Black Magick
by Alexei Noire
Summary: Tales of the Black Family's time at Hogwarts! R&R pleeeeeeeease!
1. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
Okay I can't say it enough, this is FANFICTION, which part of that made up word do you NOT understand? I made up the plot, the relationships and the behaviour okay?  
  
FOREWORD: This is the story of the Black family's time at school, the main character is Sirius, and this is going to be quite a long story, though I will not continue if no one reviews so REVIEW!  
  
This First Chapter is just introductions of all the characters and I have a certain song for every character, so if you have the song, imagine ur listening to it when I introduce them okay? Alexei James xXx :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter One: Meet the Kids~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
**Meet Sirius Black [CUE 'EVERLASTING GAZE' BY SMASHING PUMPKINS]**  
  
Sirius Black is tall, with his dark eyes and stunning good looks and has stolen the hearts of many girls.   
  
Sirius is in Gryffindor house, much to the disapproval of his mother; he has very black hair, so black in fact that it looks like the night sky on his head. He has a pierced lip and eyebrow, his lip has a ring in it and his eyebrow has a bar in it.   
  
He excels in almost every subject, but causes so much trouble, that he is seen as a bit of a nuisance by the Professors.  
  
Sirius is best friends with James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Although he doesn't get on with the majority of the people on his family, he is quite friendly with his cousin, Andromeda Black.  
  
Sirius has the ability to change into a dog at will (Animagus) and because of this, he is nicknamed 'Padfoot' by his friends.  
  
**Meet James Potter [CUE 'ALL THE SMALL THINGS' BY BLINK 182]**  
  
James Potter is tall and thin, with hazel eyes, glasses and jet-black hair, which is very messy and sticks out at the back.  
  
James is in Gryffindor, like his best friend, Sirius Black, much to the approval of his parents, but even more so as he is the Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.  
  
James has a crush on a Muggle Born, Lily Evans and he is often seen picking on a slimy, oily haired kid called Severus Snape. James, like Sirius is exceptionally clever, though letting himself down by misbehaving so often.  
  
James has the ability to change into a stag at will, and because of this, he is nicknamed 'Prongs' by his friends.  
  
**Meet Remus J. Lupin [CUE 'INSANE IN THE MEMBRANE' BY CYPRESS HILL]**  
  
Remus Lupin is a fairly tall, brown haired boy.  
  
Remus is in Gryffindor, and as well as being a most studious scholar, he is a Prefect, he enjoys finding reason to take points from other houses, particularly when it is rightful justice.  
  
Remus has had the misfortune of being bitten by a werewolf, and so every month during the full moon, he morphs into a man-eating werewolf. For this reason, he is known by his friends as 'Moony'.  
  
**Meet Peter Pettigrew [CUE 'SMOOTH CRIMINAL' BY MICHAEL JACKSON]**  
  
Peter Pettigrew is a short, thin boy with a long nose and watery black eyes.  
  
Peter is in Gryffindor and tags along with Sirius Black and James Potter, either to laugh sycophantically at their jokes or else to watch them bully Severus Snape.  
  
Peter has the ability to change into a rat at will, thus he is nicknamed 'Wormtail' by his friends.  
  
**Meet Bellatrix Black [CUE 'CINNAMON SPIDER' BY JACK OFF JILL]**  
  
Bellatrix Black is a thin, wiry Sixth Year with intensely black hair that goes down to her waist. She has stolen the hearts of many boys.  
  
Bellatrix is in Slytherin and is known as a bit of bitch by most girls of the school, with the ability to make the most butch guy reduced to tears with carefully chosen taunts. Although she misbehaves so very often, she is barely ever caught, and has been made Prefect of Slytherin. She is exceptionally brilliant in such subjects as Defence Against the Dark arts and Transfiguration.  
  
She is the cousin of Sirius Black, and the sister of Andromeda and Narcissa Black, who are as thick as thieves. However, she believes that Sirius is a disgrace to the family, being in Gryffindor.  
  
Bellatrix has a congenitally hereditary dislike for Muggle Born and Half Blood Wizard and Witches.  
  
**Meet Narcissa Black [CUE 'PRETTY LIKE DRUGS' BY QUEEN ADREENA]**  
  
Narcissa Black is a skinny, pretty blonde-haired girl, however she spoils her good looks by the permanent expression she keeps on her face that suggests there is a heap of dung beneath it.  
  
Narcissa is in Slytherin, like her sister, Bellatrix. Narcissa is in her Fourth Year at Hogwarts, and excels in such subjects as Charms, Potions and Divination.  
  
Narcissa does not acknowledge the existence of both her sister, Andromeda and her cousin, Sirius - not that they complain about it, mind.  
  
Because of Narcissa's extraordinary beauty, she is often followed by a wave of turning boys' heads everywhere she goes, those at the Slytherin table cannot keep their eyes off her. However, Narcissa is very well aware of her good looks, and thus does not fail to torment less beautiful (Okay - UGLY!) girls.  
  
Narcissa also has a great dislike for Muggle Born and Half Blood Witches and Wizards.  
  
**Meet Andromeda Black [CUE 'DRUNKEN BUTTERFLY' BY SONIC YOUTH]**  
  
Andromeda Black is a fairly tall Seventh Year with intensely black hair like her sister, Bellatrix.   
  
Unlike her sister, however, Andromeda is in Hufflepuff, much to the utter scorn from her family. Andromeda's skills are better on the Quidditch pitch than in the classroom where she plays Chaser for the Hufflepuff team.  
  
Although Andromeda isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, she has a knack for noticing minute details that many other people fail to acknowledge.  
  
Andromeda does not get on with her sisters, Narcissa and Bellatrix, but she is rather friendly with her cousin in Sixth Year, Sirius, whom she says is "One of the only Blacks with a soul".  
  
**Meet Lily Evans [CUE 'TAKE IT OFF' BY THE DONNAS]**  
  
Lily Evans has long dark reddish hair down to her shoulders, a thin figure and strikingly green eyes.  
  
Lily is in Gryffindor, and is aware of the fact that a certain creep, namely James Potter has the hots for her.  
  
Unlike most students at Hogwarts, Lily was unaware of her powers until she received a letter from the school just after she finished Primary School, telling her that she got into the school.  
  
Because of the fact that Lily is a Muggle Born Witch, she has suffered much abuse from Pure Blooded students who label her a 'Mudblood'.  
  
There is a pang of jealousy within the Evans family, however - Petunia Evans, Lily's sister is no more a Witch than a lamppost, and although she doesn't show it, she's envious.  
  
**Meet Lucius Malfoy [CUE 'LAST RESORT' BY PAPA ROACH]**  
  
Lucius Malfoy is a tall, thin, blonde haired Seventh Year with more Gold than he can carry.  
  
Lucius is a satisfied Slytherin, who in his opinion, thinks that the school should be rid of all except Slytherins.  
  
His charm is the main attraction to girls, although if you ask many, they're actually after his money.  
  
Lucius is followed closely by his sycophantic friend, Rodolphus Lestrange, who knows more about Dark Magic than most fully grown Aurors.  
  
Lucius is a proud Pure Blooded Wizard and acts nauseous every time he is around such people as Lily Evans.  
  
He shows incredible intellect and knowledge on the subject of Charms and Transfiguration, much to the approval of Professor Aquinas, Head of Slytherin and Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher.  
  
**Meet Rodolphus Lestrange [CUE 'LEFT BEHIND' BY SlipKnoT]**  
  
Oh ho ho ho ho! Rodolphus Lestrange, if there was more potential in a seventeen-year-old boy to become a Dark Wizard, look no further than he.  
  
With his perfect teeth, pallid skin and neat brown hair, Rodolphus gives the impression of a blatant wolf in sheep's clothing.  
  
Rodolphus is a true Slytherin, and has put hexes upon more Muggle Borns and Blood Traitors than is possibly imaginable for someone in Seventh Year.  
  
Rodolphus, unfortunately, fails Transfiguration every year, making up for it only with his excellent Potions and Care of Magical Creatures grades.  
  
Like Bellatrix Black, whom he's had his eye on for quite a while, Rodolphus has a knack for breaking rules but seldom getting caught.  
  
Rodolphus has a firm disliking for Mudbloods and Blood Traitors, whom he says need to leave he castle before he curses them all into Oblivion.  
  
**Meet Severus Snape [CUE 'TEENAGE DIRTBAG' BY WHEATUS]**  
  
Hehe, Severus Snape is a short, slimy boy with very greasy black hair and sickly yellowish skin.  
  
Severus was sure he'd be a Slytherin as soon as he boarded the train to Hogwarts - and he was proved right when the Sorting Hat yelled in his First Year.  
  
Now in his Sixth Year, Severus has more knowledge of the Black Arts than any other student at Hogwarts. Although Severus is chummy with Rodolphus Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy, they do not pay him much regard as a close ally.  
  
Severus, like many other Slytherins before him, detests Dirty Blooded Witches and Wizards.  
  
It's no secret that James Potter and his gang like to bully Severus, coming out with such insults as 'Snivellus Snape'.  
  
#################################################################################~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
LOL okay, I know this is just the introductions, but I need to know if anyone would like me to continue the story, I'm afraid I can't change anything of their characters, I don't care if you imagined Rodolphus to be blonde - HE's A BRUNETTE IN THIS STORY!  
  
I have a whole adventure lined up for Sirius and Andromeda, so if you cud show ur eensy weensy support, please do!  
  
Alexei James xXx Thanx! Much Appreciated. ^_^ 


	2. The Black Secret

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
Okay, you cud call this the First Chapter, seeing as the first chapter was just introductions ^_^  
  
I'd like to thank Rayeanna for her support, I shalt pursue thy quest in writing this here story, and here the tale beginneth...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Two: The Black Secret~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Pass the kippers, Wormtail," James said to Peter at the breakfast table.  
  
Peter pushed the tray to James but with a knowing smile added, "Hmm, I'm not sure kippers would do much for your breath when you're talking to that Evans girl."  
  
James blushed furiously.  
  
"And why would I have any business with THAT tart? I mean have you seen her, with her red hair and green eyes, she's just got 'slut' written all over her -."  
  
"Hello James," a soft voice whispered in his ear.  
  
James blushed even redder, on seeing that the voice belonged to Lily Evans. With her gorgeous red shoulder-length hair, beautiful emerald eyes and clear complexion, she made a few heads turn in the hall.  
  
"NICE OF YOU TO KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN, POTTER!" she yelled in James' ear, making him flinch.  
  
"Hah, unlucky bro," Sirius said walking over to the table.  
  
Sirius sat down next to Peter, and grinned over to the thunderstruck James. He helped himself to eggs and bacon, as Remus came in looking very proud of himself indeed. Lily had sat down at the very end of the table with a group of girls, looking back at James scornfully.  
  
"Looks like he's managed to tell at least a dozen people off this morning," Sirius whispered to James and Peter.  
  
Peter sniggered, and pointed to the ceiling as hundreds of owls swooped in as the post arrived. Remus sat down next to James and helped himself to the kippers James had left.  
  
"What's up with you?" he asked noticing the mortified expression on James' face.  
  
"Girl trouble," Peter said, still sniggering.  
  
Suddenly a large eagle owl dropped a pale yellow envelope in front of Remus with the Hogwarts crest on.  
  
"Well no points for guessing what's in there," Sirius said through a mouthful of toast.  
  
Remus tore the envelope open and, reading it quickly, declared, "Ah yes, you're right. Gosh it scares me how shrewd you are sometimes."  
  
Sirius grinned over at him and tapped his nose.  
  
"What lesson you got first today?" Peter asked Sirius, whilst pulling out his own timetable. Although they had been in their sixth year for three weeks now, and most students had memorised their timetable, Peter had the misfortune of forgetting most things at every available opportunity.  
  
"Transfiguration, I think... yeah," he said chewing on the last piece of toast, "Oh no, I forgot to do my Charms essay, ah well we've got till -."  
  
But Sirius stopped talking because, unlike the flutter of owls around him, there landed a coal-black raven in front of him with a jet black envelope with the words "Toujours Pur" written on.  
  
James looked down at it, getting his ability to talk back, "W-What's that?" he asked, eyeing the black envelope curiously.  
  
Sirius did not answer, but continued to stare at the envelope. His mother had warned him that he would receive something like this before he embarked the Hogwart's Express.  
  
Wordlessly, he snatched up the envelope and stuffed it into his pocket. The raven gave him a meaningful glare before taking off again.  
  
"Padfoot, wha...?" James asked, inquisitively.  
  
Sirius looked around the Hall, passing his gaze over the Hufflepuff table, but to the Slytherin table in particular.  
  
"Family stuff," he said with an air of anxiety, "It's private."  
  
James laughed, "Come off it, when have you ever kept anything secret from me?"  
  
Sirius did not answer, but he got up and walked over to the Hufflepuff table, scanning the table for someone.  
  
He walked over to an anxious looking Seventh Year, with very pale skin and dirty blonde hair, who was biting his nails.  
  
"Dom," Sirius whispered, making the boy jump.  
  
"Wish you wouldn't do that, Black," he said nervously, "You know how apprehensive I can get when your cousin's not here to protec.... I mean accompany me."  
  
Sirius sighed gravely and sat down next to Dominique.  
  
"Speaking of which, have you seen her?" Sirius asked Dominique who was twitching all the more now that there was someone sat next to him.  
  
"No, she wasn't in the Hufflepuff Common Room when I woke up, maybe she's writing a letter to her new lover?"  
  
"New lover...?" Sirius asked enquiringly.  
  
"That'll be none of your business," a loud and dignified voice said, and Sirius was pleased to see it was his cousin, Andromeda Black sitting down on the other side of Dominique.  
  
She had a mane of intensely black hair which flowed behind her like a black waterfall and she towered above a lot of students, even when she was wearing flat shoes.  
  
"Hey I need to talk to you... in private," Sirius said, looking up and down the Hufflepuff table.  
  
"Oh, don't mind me!" Dominique cried suddenly, "I've been near invisible since I came to this school, so don't notice me just YET."  
  
Sirius gave him a surprised glare.  
  
"Fine, I'll go," he said finally to Sirius, "But you need me to help you with your History of Magic essay on the Goblin Uprising."  
  
And with that, he stalked off out of the Great Hall.  
  
"A bit unusual, that one," Sirius said.  
  
"Well, he's alright once you get to know him, just a bit insecure is all," Andromeda said, helping herself to fried eggs and kippers.  
  
Sirius felt the envelope in his pocket and suddenly remembered why he needed to talk to her.  
  
"Oh by the way," he whispered, pulling out his black envelope, "did you get one of these?"  
  
Andromeda's eyes widened, as if with shock.  
  
"Put that away!" she whispered, "Yes I did receive it, but it's a family secret, I hope you didn't tell any of those lads in your posse about this."  
  
Sirius eyed her warily, and stuffed the envelope back into his pocket.  
  
"No, course I didn't."  
  
Andromeda got up, having finished her breakfast and declared, "Well I have Charms now, but we can discuss this at lunchtime. Meet me in the library, I'll ask my dear sisters to come as well, no doubt they received theirs first thing in the morning."  
  
With that she got up and made her way to Charms as Sirius went back to the Gryffindor table to meet James to go to Transfiguration.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"Today we will be learning about Partial Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall announced to the class, "Can anyone tell me what it is?"  
  
Only three hands shot into the air - they belonged to Sirius, James and Severus Snape.  
  
"Mr Potter, can you tell us?" Professor McGonagall.  
  
James grinned broadly and stood up, "Partial Transfiguration is the conversion of an object into another, concentrating on a certain part of the object to be Transfigured. This piece of magic is particularly useful in the coining of multi purpose objects, such as Crawling Goblets and Biting Cauldrons."  
  
Professor McGonagall stood, apparently stunned, but curled her mouth into an unmistakeable thin-lipped smile.  
  
"Ten points to Gryffindor...," Professor McGonagall said in a hushed voice, "no make it twenty - that was a very detailed explication of Partial Transfiguration there, Mr Potter, well done."  
  
James sat down, pleased with himself, receiving a wink from Sirius and a thumbs up from Remus. Lily made no attempt to notice James' effort to do his bit for Gryffindor, and continued to face the front.  
  
They spent the rest of the lesson trying to add spider legs to pewter beakers and at the end, Peter had succeeded in Transfiguring his beaker into a Goliath Bird Eating Spider and a small mousy haired girl called Lucy Lawrence had somehow changer her beaker into a rubbery cod. In fact, the only students to successfully Partially Transfigure their beakers were Lily, Sirius, James and Severus.  
  
"Well done, you four," Professor McGonagall said to them, "ten points for everyone who effectively Partially Transfigured their beaker."  
  
The bell rang for the end of lesson, and James immediately fumed about Snape in the corridor.  
  
"Look at him, with his pale skin and greasy hair," he seethed, "Well I shall have to 'surprise' him at lunch, shan't I?"  
  
Sirius sniggered, "What you planning?"  
  
James grinned and said, "Ever heard of the Curse of the Bogies?"  
  
"OI! NO RUNNING IN THE CORRIDORS!" Remus yelled at some passing First Years.  
  
They stopped immediately and grinned sheepishly up at him.  
  
"Ten points from Hufflepuff! And be thankful it isn't any more, now beat it!" Remus shouted at the First Years who walked away, miffed.  
  
"You shouldn't be so hard on them, mate," Sirius said.  
  
"Rules are rules, Padfoot," he said with an air of dignity.  
  
"Hey you gonna tell us what was in that black envelope yet?" Peter asked from behind.  
  
Sirius suddenly remembered - the envelope.  
  
"No, I told you - it's private," he said stiffly.  
  
James smiled to Peter from behind, "He'll tell ME though, won't you?"  
  
Sirius carried on walking, "Maybe some day."  
  
They laughed and made their way to their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Sirius had his mind on the envelope all through his lesson before lunch, Care of Magical Creatures and didn't listen to a word of Professor Belisma's speech on the Augureys (skinny greenish birds that had a mournful song) she was showing them.  
  
"These Augurey's are only babies," she said, "but when they grow older, they'll develop the ability to sing when they sense rain approaching. As you can see, they have shiny water proof feathers, which are actually quite useless for quills, but somewhat useful for the lining of raincoats.  
  
They live in nests shaped like tear drops, though you can barely spot them in the Forest here... Mr Black, are you listening?"  
  
"Wha...?" Sirius jerked out of his daze abruptly, "Yes, course I was, Professor."  
  
"Hmmm," she muttered disapprovingly.  
  
Lily glanced at him momentarily and gave him the tiniest smile.  
  
Sirius looked round to see where James was, and found him holding one of the Augureys in his hand and feeding it dead bugs.  
  
"So useful aren't they?" he said to Sirius, bringing the Augurey over to show him, "Though I imagine that if it rained for days, it would become a bit of a din."  
  
Sirius laughed, "Yeah."  
  
The bell rang for lunchtime, and Sirius immediately picked up his bag, slung it over his shoulder and sprinted towards the castle.  
  
"HEY! SIRIUS WAIT!" James yelled after him, "He's been acting rather odd today."  
  
"Tell me about it," Remus said, putting one of the Augureys back into the nest that Professor Belisma had found on the beech tree near them.  
  
"Well if you ask me, I think he's up to something," Peter said, running to catch up with James and Remus who were making their way to the castle.  
  
"Why'd you say that?" Remus asked, suspiciously.  
  
"Well, think about it, 'family stuff'?" he laughed, "I mean honestly, since when has he given a damn about his family?"  
  
James frowned in concentration, "Hmm, the Blacks are one of the most ancient Pure Blood families - they hold quite a few secrets. A many few of them have left their marks when they were at Hogwarts."  
  
"Isn't it funny that Sirius and Andromeda are one of the few Blacks who didn't make it into Slytherin?" Peter asked, pensively.  
  
"Yeah... it is," James said quietly.  
  
By the time they'd reached the Gryffindor table, Sirius had almost finished all of his lunch.  
  
"Whoa, where's the fire?" Remus asked him, suspiciously.  
  
Sirius didn't answer, he just drained his goblet of Pumpkin Juice and with a precarious wave to the three, he took off out of the Hall.  
  
"Wish I knew what was in that envelope," James said to himself.  
  
By the time Sirius had reached the Library, he saw Andromeda, Narcissa and Bellatrix already sat round a table, talking in hushed voices.  
  
Sirius walked over to them and sat down next to Andromeda.  
  
"What kept you?" Narcissa asked impolitely.  
  
"I came as quick as I could, it's not easy, bolting down your lunch in twenty seconds you know," he said.  
  
"You ATE lunch?" she asked disdainfully.  
  
"We don't all starve ourselves, like you Narcissa," he said with a mocking smile.  
  
"Why you..." she began.  
  
"ER-HEM! I think it's time to discuss why we're here," Andromeda said, eyeing Sirius and Narcissa angrily.  
  
"KEEP IT DOWN OVER THERE!" came the librarian, Madam Valerie's voice from behind the counter. Her bulky figure reminded Sirius of a large cow.  
  
"Right, we all got our envelopes, then?" Andromeda said, more quietly.  
  
Sirius pulled out his envelope; it was slightly crumpled now that it had been in his pocket all morning.  
  
Narcissa pulled hers out, which was perfect, without creases. Bellatrix already had hers in her hand.  
  
"Okay, now open them," Andromeda continued.  
  
Sirius tore the envelope open, and saw the yellow parchment, on which was a letter written in black ink:  
  
'Dear Fellow Black,  
  
In receiving this letter, you have been lucky enough to arrive at Hogwarts at the time of the Black Challenge, which is held every nine and half years.  
  
As you are well aware, the Black clan is a most ancient and noble family - we pride ourselves in being the Purest of the Pure. Because of this, we have created a challenge for our descendants, sent by a raven to every member of the Black family at that time.  
  
To get to the challenge, you must go to a bare patch of wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Only one of the members of the Black family will have been taken aside and told how to access this room, thus without that person the room cannot be accessed. Good Luck.  
  
Adieu,  
  
Your Aunt Elladora.'  
  
"Oh I quite like Elladora," Bellatrix said in her soft, sneering voice.  
  
Sirius looked over to her, he was seldom in her company and often forgot what she looked like because of it, but now catching sight of her, it looked as if she'd never smiled before in her life.  
  
"Which one of us knows how to enter to room?" Narcissa asked, staring at Sirius from across the table with her disgusted glare.  
  
"Well it isn't me," Sirius said.  
  
"Nor me," Andromeda said.  
  
"Obviously they're not going to choose a pair of Blood Traitors are they?" Bellatrix snarled from the table, "They chose me."  
  
"Who did?" Narcissa enquired, looking to her sister with added respect.  
  
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, sister, but I can tell you this, they were considering choosing you."  
  
Narcissa's sickening smile widened and gave Andromeda and Sirius scornful looks.  
  
"So what we'll do is..." Andromeda began.  
  
"I don't remember anyone agreeing to make YOU the leader, Andromeda," Bellatrix said to her callously.  
  
"I'm your older sister!" she cried.  
  
"Ah maybe so, but you see, they trusted ME with the secret of how to open the room," she said, with a mocking smile, "So I propose we all meet at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy on the Seventh Floor at 8 o'clock tonight. Any objections?"  
  
Sirius glared at her, it was incredible how callous she could be. Andromeda merely shook her head dolefully.  
  
"Good," she affirmed, "Eight o'clock at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy it is."  
  
With a final scoff, she slung her bag over her shoulder and, nose held high in the air, walked off out of the Library. Narcissa followed en suit.  
  
"Sometimes I wonder if they're really related to you, Andie," Sirius said, turning to Andromeda.  
  
"Nah, I'm definitely a Black, I'm just not a sheep," she said, smiling.  
  
At that moment, James and Peter came into the Library.  
  
"There you are!" James called from the doors to the Library, and rushing over to where Sirius and Andromeda sat, "we've been looking for you everywhere!"  
  
"Silence!" Madam Valerie screamed, from the bookshelf she was sorting, making a few people jump.  
  
"Sorry," James said quietly to her, and sat down opposite Sirius, with Peter next to him, "So... you weren't kidding about the family business thing, we passed your dear cousins on our way here. You gonna tell me what's going on?"  
  
Sirius looked to Andromeda and sighed.  
  
"As I said, Prongs, it's private."  
  
Andromeda got up and said, "Remember what we discussed Sirius. Bye."  
  
"Bye," Peter said dully.  
  
"I'll be playing your cousin soon, first match of the season, remember?" James said.  
  
"Yeah," Sirius said, lost in thought.  
  
"So," James said, "What's up with all this family stuff?"  
  
Sirius suddenly got an idea.  
  
"Hey, can I borrow your Invisibility Cloak tonight?" he asked James.  
  
James looked at him suspiciously, "Why?"  
  
"Look I'll explain it all soon, just please say yes, mate?" Sirius asked, eagerly.  
  
"Okay, but promise you'll tell me what it's all about," he said.  
  
"Well you'll have to wait till the end of the year, then, but I WILL tell you."  
  
James raised his eyebrows, "Why do I have to wait all the way till then?"  
  
"You'll see," Sirius said with a tone of finality.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
That night, Sirius left Gryffindor Tower at half seven, as he wasn't sure how long it would take to get to the Tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy in the dark. He walked under the Invisibility Cloak, reading the Enchanted Map of Hogwarts, that he and his friends had made, by the wand light.  
  
He was lucky it was so stormy outside, he was in such a rush to get to the room that he ran a lot of the way there.  
  
As he came closer to the Tapestry, he saw two dots labelled 'NARCISSA BLACK' and 'ANDROMEDA BLACK' making their way to the room.  
  
The dot labelled, 'BELLATRIX BLACK' was already by the tapestry.  
  
Not wanting Bellatrix to see the Invisibility Cloak, he took it off and stuffed it into his pocket, before turning a corner to the Tapestry.  
  
"Oh look what the cat dragged in," she said, catching sight of him.  
  
"Who rattled YOUR cage?" Sirius asked her angrily.  
  
"It's Blood Traitors like you who annoy me, Sirius," she said in her soft voice.  
  
"Would you give it a rest?" Sirius snapped.  
  
"Ooh touchy, aren't we, cousin Sirius?" she shot him a wicked grin, which didn't suit her at all.  
  
They heard footsteps from behind and next minute, Narcissa and Andromeda appeared, looking very red and sweaty.  
  
"We had to take the long route because Peeves was singing loudly in the Charms corridor," Narcissa said, looking very displeased.  
  
"Well, then Bell, do the honours," Andromeda said to her, puffing loudly and clutching a stitch in her side.  
  
Bellatrix pursed her lips, and made that same expression that Narcissa permanently wore, giving the impression that she was in a room full of Dungbombs.  
  
She looked at the other three and said in a deadly whisper, "Step back, I need space."  
  
They all did so, and watched her pace in front of the bare patch of wall, without telling them what she was up to. Suddenly, a polished black door appeared with an intricate letter 'B' and a shiny brass doorknob.  
  
Bellatrix looked at the other three and gave them meaningful glances.  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked, in a shaky voice.  
  
She took hold of the doorknob and turned it with her slender fingers and stepped inside...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mwahaha! I shan't continue with this here story unless I get reviews hereon, so REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!!  
  
Ali xXx 


	3. The Black Challenge

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
I'd like to thank Arien Eledhwen, Headmaster Cromwell and Lyn for their reviews. ^_^  
  
Alexei Noire x X x :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Three: The Black Challenge~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The four Blacks stepped into a dimly lit, very long chamber that seemed to go quite far ahead. As soon they had stepped into the room, they could feel the temperature drop, and shivering, proceeded further into the room.  
  
Looking round, Sirius noticed a lot of bookshelves full of books in foreign languages, and archaic English. There was a faint smell of decay within the room, and, from what they could see, an enormous black crystal ball in the middle of the room.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Narcissa's voice echoed off the damp stone walls.  
  
Her face had gone horrible pale, and she was pointing to the ceiling. There, on a large chandelier, was a skeleton, clothed in the most ragged attire Sirius had ever seen, swinging upon it with a menacing grin on its face.  
  
Sirius and Bellatrix had gotten their wands out pointed it at the skeleton, to curse it in case it tried to attack. But Sirius was not sure that curses would work on skeletons.  
  
They stood, wands poised for over five minutes, Sirius could feel his heart beating rapidly beneath his ribs and swallowed saliva down his dry throat. He bit on his lip ring in concentration, breathing steadied now.  
  
But the skeleton continued to swing back and forth, without making the slightest hint of acknowledgement of the new people in the room.  
  
"Oh my God, it's just a decoration," Bellatrix said, lowering her wand.  
  
Sirius sighed and, lowering his own wand, glanced at Bellatrix momentarily, but abruptly shifted his gaze to the rotting wooden floorboards beneath him.  
  
"I can't believe YOU screamed," Andromeda said to Narcissa, sniggering.  
  
Narcissa walked further into the room, not moving her eyes from the swinging chandelier.  
  
"Look, here's another one!" Bellatrix called to the others, pointing to a greenish skeleton, also in rags, and wearing a very filthy bowler hat. It waved to them and stared with its empty sockets and permanent smile.  
  
Andromeda and Sirius had walked over to the massive crystal ball, if you could call it that, seeing as it was seething with thick black smoke.  
  
Suddenly, the crystal ball began to form cracks. It cracked at the top, near the bottom, and eventually the whole thing was covered in branches of cracks.  
  
"I didn't do it," Sirius said, stepping away from it.  
  
Bellatrix and Narcissa were gaping at it avidly, but Andromeda had walked straight into the bookshelf on which the skeleton was perched.  
  
The cracks became so many, and so intricate that the ball was more white, now than black.  
  
Any moment now, it was going to smash...  
  
But it didn't smash, instead, it swelled in the middle, and as if a giant hand was squashing it down, it began to flatten and deflate.  
  
"This has to be something to do with the challenge," Narcissa whispered, Sirius smirked momentarily at how unattractive she looked when terrified.  
  
When the ball had become a flat disc, it collapsed and became a sort of hole which went deep into the ground.  
  
The Blacks all looked at one another, not knowing what to expect. Sirius bit down on his lip ring, as he always did when he was tense.  
  
And then out of the hole came a solid arm, though pale and bluish in appearance, it reached and climbed out of the hole. Before them, stood very tall, thin man with a very long black beard and equally as long black hair which resembled a lot the Black family's. He wore the same disgusted expression that Narcissa always wore, but had a fire blazing in his eyes, and the only other place that Sirius had seen that fire was in his mother's.  
  
As soon as the man was fully outside, the hole changed into a sort of jet black throne, upon which he sat with a great thump.  
  
"Who goes there?" he asked, his voice was faint and callous, unlike any voice Sirius had heard before.  
  
"The present day members of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black," Bellatrix said in a loud and clear voice.  
  
The man looked to her, and then to Narcissa, Sirius and then finally to Andromeda, who was still flat against the bookshelf.  
  
"Ah, my descendants," he uttered with pride, "you," he looked towards Andromeda, "I'd move away from the books, that skeleton is there to guard those books, and he will attack anyone who takes them without asking."  
  
Andromeda suddenly caught sight of the skeleton behind her, and moved quickly away towards Sirius. The skeleton had a dagger in its bony hands, which it wielded threateningly.  
  
"So," he said in his faint, barely audible tone, "another Black Challenge with fresh faces. I see this year we are quite plentiful with those in our clan, why there was once a time when there was only one small First Year to whom the Challenge was issued, he failed of course, but that was to be expected.  
  
There was another time when we had no less than twenty Blacks, all interrelated and bound by blood. Many of them succeeded in their tasks, but many also failed."  
  
He looked towards Sirius and pursed his ghostly lips, "You boy, will have the biggest honour to uphold for us Blacks, but you will meet downfall and hardship also. I have but pity for you, child.  
  
Uh...What is that thing about your eye?"  
  
Sirius felt his eye and then realised what he was talking about, "Oh, that's my eyebrow bar."  
  
"Um, can you tell us who you are?" Andromeda asked, from beside Sirius, she kept glancing over to the skeleton on the bookshelf, who had stowed its dagger safely back under its bowler hat.  
  
The man stood up, and his robes fluttered behind him like curtains in wind, "I am Maxilla Ulnaris Black, I died more than five hundred years ago, by which time, I kept my seventy-seven year old self with the bounds of this room.  
  
I came up with the idea of setting the Blacks who would succeed me challenges every so often, to show our superiority and power. Whosoever shall pass the tasks issued to them will receive a certain...power - an ability signature to that person which they can use so long as they continue the Black clan's prestigious heritage."  
  
"What kinds of power?" Narcissa asked with interest.  
  
"In the past, your relatives before you have been given the ability to fly, to teleport, to morph into any object at will, and once there was even a lad called Winchester Amadeus Black, who could mortally terrify those he disliked with a powerful stare."  
  
Narcissa and Bellatrix smirked at one another, with excitement on their faces.  
  
"Now," he said, sitting back down upon his seat, "How many of you have upheld the family's reputation and been placed into the greatest of the houses, Slytherin?"  
  
Bellatrix and Narcissa put their hands in the air, passing derisive sneers from across the room to Andromeda and Sirius.  
  
"I see," he continued, "And you two?"  
  
"Gryffindor," Sirius muttered.  
  
"Hufflepuff," Andromeda said quietly.  
  
"WHAT?" he yelled, getting back up, "A Black in GRYFFINDOR AND HUFFLEPUFF? It's an outrage! A scandal I say! Do you feel no shame?"  
  
"No," Andromeda said, frowning, "We're proud of the houses we were sorted into."  
  
"Oh you are, are you?" he sat back down, yet again, seething with rage, "well let's see how well you handle the tasks I set. Never in my entire existence have I seen such contamination of the name Black."  
  
He looked round at them all, scattered about the chamber.  
  
"Line up, youngest to oldest," he barked.  
  
Narcissa stood up in front of him, with Bellatrix and Sirius, Andromeda stood at the end.  
  
"I'm older than you," Bellatrix said to Sirius, irritably.  
  
"Don't be stupid, I am, and you know it," Sirius fumed.  
  
"The boy is older, young girl, and he's right - you DO know it," Maxilla breathed.  
  
Bellatrix smirked sarcastically to Sirius, she was just winding him up again.  
  
"Now, from the young girl at the end to her oldest sister, call out your names, and how you are all related to one another," Maxilla continued.  
  
Narcissa stepped forward, "Narcissa Friday Black, youngest of my sisters and first cousin of Sirius Black."  
  
She stepped back and Bellatrix did as she did, "Bellatrix Detascalvo Black, younger sister of Andromeda and Narcissa Black - first cousin to Sirius Black."  
  
Sirius' turn came, and was glad that there were only three of his relatives in the room - he wouldn't have fancied having been one of those twenty Blacks, having to name every single relationship.  
  
"Sirius Black, first cousin to Andromeda, Bellatrix and Narcissa Black."  
  
He stepped back, and gave Bellatrix a derisive smirk, she eyed him coldly, then faced Maxilla.  
  
"Andromeda Nymphadora Black - oldest sister of Bellatrix and Narcissa Black and first cousin of Sirius Black."  
  
As soon as she stepped back, Maxilla got back up, and Sirius wondered if he ever got tired of his constant sitting and standing.  
  
"And now I shall issue you all your individual tasks," he whispered, "but firstly, there are some rules you must follow.  
  
You must not help each other in the tasks, you must not discuss with anyone but another Black the tasks and you must always try to succeed in your task, any backing out of this challenge will result in heinous reprimand."  
  
Narcissa sighed apprehensively.  
  
"Narcissa Friday Black - I see you have been gifted with the usual stunning looks of all the Blacks," Narcissa smiled and blushed gently, "So I shall give you the task of alluring another Pure Blooded Wizard, and stealing his heart."  
  
Narcissa grinned so widely, her disgusted expression even disappeared from her face momentarily - this wasn't a challenge for her, she'd stolen so many boys hearts, it would be as easy as clicking her fingers.  
  
"Bellatrix Detascalvo Black - the most underhand of all the Blacks situated here - you have an ability to cause trouble and not get caught. I prompt upon you the task of tormenting one with dirty blood to such an extent that they become mortally terrified of you."  
  
Bellatrix smirked, but Andromeda cut in, "That's cruel and unfair! I have a friend who's Half Blood and he's just as much a Wizard as you or I."  
  
"Obviously you and I have very different opinions on what a true Wizard is, Andromeda," he smirked slightly and continued, "you, with your limited wit will have to most hare-brained task of all - to capture an Augurey."  
  
Narcissa and Bellatrix burst out laughing, and even Maxilla's lip twitched. Andromeda went bright red - it was true she wasn't the cleverest Witch, but she was one heck of a Chaser in Quidditch, surely that counted for something.  
  
"Now, go forth and complete your tasks -."  
  
"Wait! What about my task?" Sirius asked tentatively.  
  
Maxilla looked at Sirius for a second, then whispered, "You, boy must wrestle a werewolf."  
  
Narcissa looked at Sirius with utter scorn, she knew this task would be impossible for him - even if he managed to find a werewolf, there was little or no chance he'd escape alive, or at least with any limbs intact.  
  
Bellatrix didn't react to this; she just stared at the wooden floorboards beneath her, with her pretty face and tapped her feet impatiently.  
  
Andromeda gave Sirius a thunderstruck look, towering above him.  
  
"Now you have till All Hallow's Eve to complete your task - if you finish any time before then, you will find out how to attain your power. Come back when any of you discover it. Till then - Adieu."  
  
The throne once more became a hole, into which Maxilla climbed. The hole became the disc, which inflated to once more become the great black crystal ball.  
  
As soon as they were outside, Andromeda faced Sirius and said in a harsh whisper, "We're doomed."  
  
Sirius sighed, there was a small chance that he could complete his task - after all, one of his best friends WAS a werewolf... It was time to ask Remus Lupin for a favour...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
In the immortal words of Jack White : "I said it once before but it bears repeating, now."  
  
PLZ REVIEW THIS CHAPTER OR I WON'T WRITE NO MORE!!!!  
  
Alexei x X x :D 


	4. Narcissa's Beau

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
I'd like to thank BlackLadyofDoom and Rayeanna for their reviews.  
  
Alexei Noire x X x :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Narcissa's Beau~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The sunlight streamed in through the hangings of Sirius' four-poster bed. It lit up his handsome features, and gleamed off his lip and eyebrow ring. It shone gently upon his face, causing him to stir.  
  
He sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking around the room he noticed that Peter was the only one still asleep.  
  
"God, I hate the sun," he muttered groggily, shutting the curtains at the window.  
  
He walked over to his bed, jumped back onto it, and closed his eyes. He had been thinking his task over all night, and tried to come up with ways of asking Remus if he could wrestle him - but it might seem too suspicious, and he wasn't allowed to discuss it with anyone but another Black.  
  
There was a rattling noise behind him, and he was sure someone was pulling the curtains apart.  
  
"No," he said, eyes still closed, lying on his stomach, "draw those curtains, it's too flaming sunny..."  
  
"Well if you look outside, you'll see it's actually pouring it down," came a familiar voice from the window.  
  
Sirius rolled onto his back and saw that it was Remus Lupin grinning over from the window, with a blatant downpour hailing outside.  
  
"Moony!" Sirius exclaimed.  
  
"Yep, that's my name, don't wear it out!" he said asininely.  
  
Sirius sighed, and tried to get up off his bed, but got caught in the tangled bedclothes, causing him to roll off his bed with a loud thump.  
  
"Whassamatter?" Peter's voice came from his bed in the corner.  
  
Remus began laughing, and held out his hand to hoist Sirius up. Sirius took it tentatively and stood up.  
  
"What's up?" Remus asked, looking at the stunned look on Sirius's face.  
  
Sirius merely shook his head soundlessly.  
  
"Well anyway," he continued, "You ready for Saturday night?"  
  
"Sa-Saturday night?" Sirius stuttered.  
  
Remus rolled his eyes and sighed, "You know, it's the full moon! The time of the month when I change into a man-eating beast from the daaarkest woods of Germany!"  
  
He raised his arms in front of him like a zombie and began hobbling about the room.  
  
Sirius just stared - The full moon, the only time he'd come into contact with a werewolf - it was his only chance.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Remus asked, lowering his hands, "One of the rare moments I act foolish and you don't applaud it?"  
  
Sirius sat down on his bed and sighed.  
  
"Remus?" he asked hesistantly.  
  
"Yeah?" he looked at Sirius, with his head tilted sideways.  
  
"Er....," Sirius swallowed - how stupid would it look to ask him if he could wrestle him as a werewolf?  
  
Remus crossed his arms and for a few moments the only sounds that could be heard was the heavy rain outside and Peter's snores.  
  
"Wh-Why aren't you in class?" Sirius asked, blinking nervously.  
  
Remus frowned at him, "For someone who's still in their pyjamas in their dormitory, you're not one to ask."  
  
Peter yawned from across the room and sat up, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Where is everyone?" he muttered.  
  
"Herbology was cancelled," Remus answered, looking over to Peter, "the young new teacher, Professor Sprout, said we could have to morning off seeing as we were meant to be working outside today."  
  
"Well how long have we got 'til Arithmancy?" Sirius asked, getting up and rummaging for his school robes.  
  
"About forty five minutes," Remus replied, "How about we go to the Library and revise Partial Transfiguration? I still haven't gotten the hang of it yet - I either completely Transfigure an object or else, the wrong part and I want to perfect my technique before our NEWTs."  
  
"They're not 'til next year!" Peter cried from his bed.  
  
"I know, but one can never be too prepared," he said curtly.  
  
Sirius had gotten changed, and packed up his books and quills for the day in his satchel. He also quickly stuffed the Marauder's Map in his pocket.  
  
"You ready, then?" Remus asked him, with a short smile.  
  
"Yeah, erm... I'm not going to go to the Library, I have to talk to Andie."  
  
Remus raised his eyebrows questioningly, "Your cousin? You mean, this family business is still going on?"  
  
Sirius didn't answer, but instead slung his bag over his shoulder and made for the door, but on placing his hand on the doorknob, he suddenly turned round to face Remus.  
  
"Where's Prongs?" he asked, frowning and biting down on his lip ring.  
  
"Oh well, he decided to spend the morning practising Quidditch, a waste of time if you ask ME. He could be studying for his NEWTs, but no, he insists on playing with broomsticks..."  
  
Sirius didn't hear the rest of Remus' diatribe, because he'd already started striding down the steps to the Gryffindor Common Room.  
  
There were only five other people in the Common Room - a jittery-looking First Year with bright blonde hair, who had his leg in a cast, sat by the fire and a small group of giggling Sixth Year girls.  
  
One of the girls walked over to Sirius, a tall, skinny girl with dirty blonde hair.  
  
"Hey, you're friends with that Potter aren't you?" she asked, with her dazzling smile.  
  
Sirius frowned, and looked over to her friends, who began giggling as he did.  
  
"Yes... why?"  
  
"Well," she said in a more urgent whisper, and steering him into an unoccupied leather seat by the window, "Rumour has it that your James has a little crush on my Lily."  
  
Sirius sighed, and suddenly got up, "Look I have more important things to be getting on with."  
  
"Oh but wait!" she called, as he made for the portrait hole, "Talk to me later, meet me by the Pine Tree in the grounds near Hagrid's Hut. That is... if the rain clears up by then."  
  
She giggled and smiled at Sirius, who rolled his eyes disinterestedly.  
  
With a final wave and smile, she skipped over to her friends, and Sirius noticed that Lily was looking quite grave amongst her tittering friends.  
  
Once Sirius was outside the Common Room, he got his enchanted map of Hogwarts back out and surveyed it for any sign of Andromeda. After a few minutes, he found that she was having a Transfiguration on the First Floor.  
  
He stuffed the parchment back into his robes and ran all the way to her classroom, all the while thinking of a good alibi to get Andromeda out of her lesson.  
  
Stopping outside the door, he bent down to catch his breath. He balled his hand into a fist and rapped it several times against the polished oak door.  
  
Professor McGonagall opened the door and glowered down at him, looking distinctly ruffled.  
  
"What is it, Mr Black?" she asked severely.  
  
"I...uh... need to ask you about our NEWTs," he said with blatant apprehension in his voice.  
  
Professor McGonagall's lip thinned, and she looked down at him with exasperation.  
  
"Must you ask me, RIGHT now, Black?" she asked, and Sirius caught sight of a few Seventh Years trying to Transfigure handbags into alligators, with the handbags already in glass cages.  
  
"Yes, we have to morning off and I wanted to show you some new Transfiguration I came across, and I'm not sure how to perform it correctly."  
  
Sirius was not sure why he was using this alibi, he was sure this would not buy him the time he needed.  
  
"Very well," she said, and moved aside to let him through.  
  
Sirius walked to her desk, and saw Andromeda sat on the back row with her jumpy friend, Dominique, poking at the handbag, which had sprouted legs and was stumbling all around the tank. Neither of them looked up to acknowledge Sirius.  
  
Professor McGonagall sat down at her desk, and conjured up a wooden stool for Sirius to sit on. A few Seventh Years looked up to see what was going on, though most of them were having enough of a job trying to keep their alligators from biting them.  
  
"So tell me about this new topic you came across, Black," Professor McGonagall said, stiffly, staring at him like a hawk.  
  
Think, think, think! Sirius thought to himself, what haven't we covered in class?  
  
"Uh...," Sirius needed to come up with something quick, "Mid Point Switching Transifuration."  
  
McGonagall stared back at him, through her half moon spectacles, "Black, that is very advanced magic, I daresay you won't even have to know too much about it, let alone perform it in your NEWTs next year."  
  
Sirius' heart pounded, she was very sharp, why hadn't he picked up on that before?  
  
"Um... yes Professor, but look," Sirius got his wand out and conjured up a small cactus in a plastic pot and a chrysanthemum in a clay pot.  
  
Professor McGonagall looked to the plants, "Yes?"  
  
Sirius looked at her momentarily, then waving his wand, muttered, "Mutare et Illic!"  
  
The cactus and chrysanthemum disappeared from sight momentarily, then reappeared with the plastic pot where the clay had been and vice versa, except that they were both now large rosebushes, towering high above Professor McGonagall's desk.  
  
The Professor's head was completely hidden because of the bushes, but Sirius was sure he'd get detention for performing such extravagant magic while she was trying to teach advanced Transfiguration to her Seventh Years.  
  
"B-Black!" she stuttered, from behind the bush.  
  
Sirius waved his wand yet again and with another wave, muttered, "Reverso Incantatem!"  
  
And in a flash, the cactus and chrysanthemum went back to their original positions and sizes.  
  
Sirius caught sight of Professor McGonagall's face - it looked too stunned to yell, so he just looked to the floor and mumbled, "Sorry, Professor."  
  
"Sorry? SORRY?" McGonagall cried, causing the class to look over at her, "Dear boy, you just performed a perfect Mid Point Switching Transfiguration spell! Don't be sorry! Why, that'll be fifty points to Gryffindor, and make no mistake, I shall be telling Professor Dumbledore about this!"  
  
She got up off her chair and, was literally bouncing on her heels. With a very rare smile, she shook Sirius' hand.  
  
"That was... Amazing! Just spectacular!" she seemed to have forgotten that she was in the middle of an Advanced Transfiguration class, and instead put all her attention to Sirius, "Half the numbskulls I teach in the Seventh Year couldn't do such precise Transfiguration, Black! My, my, you and Potter never cease to amaze me with your intelligence, though your behaviour could be better."  
  
Sirius got up off his stool, and made for the door.  
  
"BLACK!" Professor McGonagall yelled, and Sirius caught Andromeda's eye briefly, "Where are you going? I want to see how much more you can do - there's interspecies Transfiguration and human Transfiguration!"  
  
"I have twenty minutes left to my next lesson, Professor," Sirius replied calmly.  
  
"What?" her smile faded, but she waved her hand impatiently, "Oh very well, go along, but remember, keep practising until your NEWTs! And don't forget we have a lesson this afternoon!"  
  
Sirius made for the door, and noticed all eyes were on him now. Andromeda and Dominique were staring at him from the back, and Sirius casually pretended to smooth his hair back, with his finger pointing to the door.  
  
Once he was outside the classroom, he walked a few paces away from the door and stood beside a suit of armour. Hopefully Andromeda had gotten the message, no matter how vague it was.  
  
Sirius stood for what seemed like ten minutes, until he heard a door creak open, and was thoroughly pleased to see his cousin exiting the Transfiguration class.  
  
She ran over to him, looking utterly bewildered, "What's up?"  
  
He grabbed her arm and led her over to the end of the corridor, "We're going to catch you an Augurey."  
  
Andromeda let out a disgruntled sigh, "What - NOW?"  
  
"Yes, NOW," Sirius replied, "It's just rained, so we'll be able to hear them."  
  
"Well couldn't we do this another time? I mean we've only got like ten minutes."  
  
Sirius shook his head, frowning, "How often does it rain?"  
  
Andromeda pushed her smooth black hair out of her face and let out a reluctant, "O-kay then."  
  
"Great, come on," Sirius grinned and began sprinting across the corridor.  
  
They ran down the marble staircase, and ran out the oak front doors. Sirius conjured a large umbrella and held it over the two.  
  
"Um, I'm not sure there are Augureys in the Forbidden Forest, plus I'm sure it's prohibited to even go in there."  
  
"Professor Belisma showed us some Augureys she found in the Forest" Sirius replied, the rain beating fiercely upon the umbrella, "and besides, have you ever met a student who hasn't entered the Forest?"  
  
"Hmm, guess not," she said, tentatively, and they walked further into the grounds, splashing through cold puddles.  
  
Sirius walked up to a group of densely placed pine trees and stood still.  
  
"What now?" Andromeda asked.  
  
"Shhhh!" Sirius held up a finger to his lip and whispered, "try to listen for the Augurey's mournful song."  
  
They stood still, straining to listen for some sort of wailing or whining, but neither of them had actually heard an Augurey's song before, and it was practically useless, seeing as it was near impossible to hear any sounds over the heavy rain.  
  
After a few minutes, Andromeda said in an exasperated tone, "This is useless! You expect us to be able to hear some depressed bird's singing over the pounding of the rain? And I'm supposed to be back in Transfiguration, I was only pardoned to go to the toilet for a few minutes!"  
  
Sirius sighed - she was right, it WAS useless to hear anything in a downpour this heavy.  
  
The two began walking back to the castle, and heard the bell signalling the next lesson. Sirius saw someone with a broomstick, looking very muddy and bedraggled plodding up to the castle too, and catching the jet black hair and skinny figure, realised who it was.  
  
"PRONGS!" he yelled across the grounds.  
  
James inclined his head towards Sirius' yell and ran over, though he couldn't see too well through his fogged up glasses.  
  
"Padfoot is that you?" he asked, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his robes, "I just been doing a bit of practising, you know for next week's match against Hufflepuff?"  
  
Andromeda smiled weakly, "Yeah, good luck, I better be going," and she sprinted across the grounds to the oaken front door, still carrying the umbrella, leaving Sirius soaking wet within a few minutes of exposure to the storm.  
  
"What's up with her?" James asked, looking to the front doors, "Is she nervous about the coming Quidditch Match?"  
  
Sirius laughed, and began walking towards the castle, "No, she's just made up an excuse to get out of class, and judging by the state of her robes, McGonagall won't be convinced that she just went to the toilet."  
  
"Well, she could have said that Moaning Myrtle flooded the toilets in anguish," James laughed, "And anyway, what WERE you two doing near the Forest in this weather?"  
  
Sirius looked to the ground, he didn't have to explain too much, but he needn't lie either.  
  
"Catching Augureys," he said tersely.  
  
James stared at him for a few seconds, and climbed up the stone steps to the Entrance Hall, "Why?"  
  
"I...just wanted to show Andie what one looked like is all," Sirius replied.  
  
James laughed, "Well you're not going to find one too easily while it's raining - remember, they only sing when rain is APPROACHING, not while it is raining."  
  
Sirius sighed - of course, so that's why there was no mournful song in the Forest.  
  
"Come on, we're late for Defence Against the Dark Arts," James said in a quieter voice, now that they were inside, "Professor Aquinas is expecting us to know about Vampire Slaying back to front this lesson."  
  
Sirius merely nodded, remembering HIS task. Perhaps he didn't have to ask Remus if he could wrestle him as a werewolf - he could just wrestle him anyway.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
By lunchtime, all Sirius could think about was Saturday night, and how he could stage the fight. He barely touched his Shepherd's Pie, and failed to notice that Bellatrix had just performed the Ice Breath curse upon a small boy who was sat at the end of the Gryffindor Table.  
  
The boy coughed momentarily, and then let out a blast of icy breath that froze the dish of Shepherd's Pie before him.  
  
Bellatrix walked away laughing, and Peter kicked Sirius from under the table, taking him out of his reverie.  
  
"Wasn't that your cousin who just cursed that little boy over there?" he asked Sirius, who was looking absolutely confounded.  
  
"What?" he asked, frowning, "Who did she curse?"  
  
Peter pointed down the table to a small, skinny boy with bright blonde hair, who was issuing occasional blasts of icy wind from his mouth. Sirius recognised the boy as the same one who had his leg in a cast earlier on in the Common Room.  
  
Sirius suddenly stood up and strode over to where the boy sat. He sat down beside him and asked, "Who did this to you?"  
  
The boy, turned his head towards Sirius, and as if he'd only just noticed that Sirius was there, his eyes widened and began whimpering.  
  
"Did Bellatrix do this?" he asked angrily, "My cousin, the skinny one with black hair?"  
  
"Sh-She's you cousin?" he asked, nervously, gradually shuffling away from Sirius.  
  
"She did, didn't she!" Sirius got up and pointed his wand at the boy, who had a look of terror on his face.  
  
"No, don't worry I'm going to perform the counter curse on you," Sirius said soothingly.  
  
The boy froze, unsure as to whether he was telling the truth or not.  
  
Sirius muttered "Fervefacio Incantatem!" and the boy coughed once more, but there was no icy blast of wind.  
  
"Th-Thanks," the boy stuttered, not looking at Sirius.  
  
Sirius sat back down next to the boy, "Why did she curse you?"  
  
"Your cousin?" he asked, sighing, and sitting back up, "I don't know, it's as if she suddenly has something against me. She performed the Leg Locker curse on me earlier on, and just before Charms she put the Crooning Curse on me, so that everything I said was in song. I broke my leg with the Leg Locker, so I had to get it all bandaged up."  
  
Sirius frowned, and looked over to the Slytherin Table where Bellatrix was deep in conversation with a boy with neat brown hair and very pallid skin.  
  
"You mean this has happened before?" he asked the boy.  
  
"Well...yeah," he said, looking up at Sirius, "I was having such fun at Hogwarts before she started on me, my Dad's a Maths Teacher and my Mum's a Counsellor, they were so glad when I got my letter from Hogwarts - my Mum didn't even think Witches and Wizards existed!"  
  
"Whoa - wait a minute," Sirius cried, "You mean you're Muggle-Born?"  
  
"Is that why she's after me?" he enquired gloomily, "I thought as much, my friend, Dave said that it was because people like her don't believe Half Blood or Muggle Born Wizards are good enough to learn magic."  
  
"That's codswallop," Sirius spat angrily, "What's your name, kid?"  
  
The boy looked up at Sirius with his innocent blue eyes and said, "Martyn Mitochondria."  
  
"Well Martyn," Sirius said, getting to his feet, "If my dear cousin as much as lays a finger on you - come to me, and I'll sort her out."  
  
The bell rang for the end of lunch, and Peter ran over to Sirius to go to Transfiguration with him.  
  
Martyn smiled at Sirius and muttered, "Bye then," as Peter and he made their way to the First Floor.  
  
"How come James wanted to go to the Library at lunch?" Peter asked Sirius.  
  
Sirius laughed, "Well I told him about how I performed some rather complex Transfiguration, so I guess he's trying to catch up with me in coming up with a new way of impressing McGonagall."  
  
They climbed the marble staircase and made their way to their classroom.  
  
"TWENTY POINTS FROM RAVENCLAW!" came a familiar voice from across the corridor, "How many times? NO RUNNING IN THE CORRIDORS!"  
  
Sirius and Peter sniggered as Remus walked over to them looking very happy indeed.  
  
"Oh it really is worth spending your lunchtime keeping others on the right side of the law!" he exclaimed, practically skipping.  
  
Peter gave Sirius a disgusted look, making him snigger.  
  
"What?" Remus asked, "What's so funny?"  
  
Sirius' grin widened, and Peter ran ahead so that Remus wouldn't notice his fit of giggles.  
  
"They're probably amused," James' voice came from behind, "at the fact that although you spend most of your time telling people off for minor rule- breaking, you fail to notice the biggest troublemakers in school - your friends."  
  
Remus blushed, looking slightly abashed, "Yes... well."  
  
James punched Remus jovially on his arm, and walked into Transfiguration with him and Sirius.  
  
Peter was already sat down on a table behind Severus Snape. He had gotten over his giggling fit, and was now pulling faces at the back of Snape's head.  
  
Sitting down next to Peter, James poked Snape in the back sharply with his wand.  
  
"Oi, Snivellus," he taunted, "I think you'll be in for a ...SNAPPY surprise today."  
  
He laughed and kicked the back of Snape's chair violently. Snape showed no sign of acknowledgement of as to what James had just said.  
  
"Thick slimy git," James muttered, from right behind Snape, "You'll be running and screaming out of this lesson by the end, like the coward that you are."  
  
Professor McGonagall walked in looked very dizzy and flustered, and had to lean against the edge of the table to steady herself.  
  
"Today, class, we will be perfecting our Switching Spells," she swallowed hard and continued, "I need you all to do it flawlessly so that we can perform the Animal Transfiguration Spells the lesson after that."  
  
She smoothed her black hair back into her tight bun, and began handing out 'Advanced Transfiguration Part One' out, as well as a small mouse for every group.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
The lesson had ended with everyone standing on their tables to escape the jaws of an enormous caiman snapping threateningly at the students' legs.  
  
The foreign reptile's sudden appearance at Hogwarts was due to James Potter feeling the need to Transfigure Severus Snape's mouse into a caiman, just for a laugh.  
  
However, no one was laughing when the caiman bit one of the legs of the table upon which little Lucy Lawrence was stood, causing it to fall to one side. Lucy fell off the table, onto her buttocks, and the caiman, catching sight of the nearby human, bit Lucy's left leg with sheer force and pressure, making Lucy let out a bloodcurdling scream that echoed across the classroom and rang through the corridors. Her leg was bleeding profusely, and Professor McGonagall had passed out - she looked like she was under enough pressure at the start of the lesson anyway.  
  
A tall girl called Alexa Bartlett, who had dreadlocks, attempted a freezing charm upon the caiman, which still had a firm grip on Lucy's leg, and although the caiman wasn't moving anymore, it was clamped firmly onto Lucy's leg.  
  
At last, Lily Evans ran from the room and went to get help, returning several minutes later with Professor Flitwick and Madam Pomfrey.  
  
Flitwick pointed his wand at the caiman and made it disappear in a wisp of smoke, and Madam Pomfrey conjured up two wheelchairs, and with Lily accompanying her, took Professor McGonagall up to the Hospital Wing as well as Lucy.  
  
Professor Flitwick was seething by the time the bell rang and his small voice, echoed dangerously off the walls.  
  
"Who," he squeaked angrily, "Which godforsaken IDIOT, found the need to Transfigure a mouse into a FIERCE CAIMAN?"  
  
There was silence, everyone just looked at one another. Then finally James raised his hand, with a sigh.  
  
"Detention Potter!" he barked, "For a whole two weeks! And make no mistake, I shall be telling Professor Dumbledore about this!"  
  
He turned on his heel and strode off out of the room.  
  
Every head turned to James, and people began to get down from their desks. It didn't seem as if anyone was particularly angry at James, but more disappointed in him.  
  
"Come on, mate," Sirius said, nudging him from beside him, "Let's get out of here."  
  
When they were out in the corridor, someone walked straight into James, causing all his books and quills to fall over the floor.  
  
"Watch where you're going next time, Gryffindor," came a drawling voice from behind them.  
  
Sirius turned round and saw Lucius Malfoy, flanked by his pallid crony, Rodolphus Lestrange.  
  
Lestrange looked to James and smiled, and Sirius noticed how perfect and white all his teeth were.  
  
James was too angry to reply, and instead shoved Malfoy hard against the chest with both his hands, causing him to stagger backwards and fall into a crowd of Ravenclaw Second Years.  
  
Lestrange got his wand out and pointed it at James, muttering, "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"  
  
James' hands snapped to his sides, his legs bashed together, and he keeled over backwards with a thump.  
  
Sirius immediately got his wand out and yelled, "EXPELLIARMUS!"  
  
Lestrange fell backwards slightly, and his wand flew out of his hand. Peter caught it from behind Sirius.  
  
"Why you..." Lestrange began, but Sirius ran forwards and punched him in the face, hitting his jaw and causing Lestrange to lurch slightly. Sirius aimed another punch at Lestrange's stomach, but this time, he was kicked in the shins as Lestrange fell in pain.  
  
As Sirius raised his fist to hit Lestrange once more, his arms stopped mid swing, as someone held his arms from behind, and upon hearing the drawling voice once more, didn't need telling upon who it was.  
  
"Hello, Black," he said silkily from behind, Sirius struggled but Malfoy had him in a tight grip.  
  
And then, suddenly, Sirius felt utter and sheer pain, as Lestrange kneed him hard in the crotch. Sirius cried out in anguish and there was a general 'Ooooh!' from the crowd that had formed around the fight.  
  
Sirius spluttered, as he felt his knees weakening and he fell to the floor.  
  
"MR LESTRANGE!" A booming voice echoed across the corridor, and a hush fell upon the students who lined the hallway.  
  
Professor Dumbledore walked down the corridor majestically, and offering a hand to Sirius, hoisted him up off the floor. He looked to Lestrange, then to Malfoy and finally to James, lying stiffly on the floor.  
  
He pointed his wand and muttered the counter curse, so that James stirred from the floor upon which he lay sprawled.  
  
"There will be no fighting in the corridors, or anywhere else in this school, Mr Lestrange," Dumbledore said in a calm yet dignified voice, "Mr Malfoy I know what happened - seventy points from Slytherin, and three weeks' detention. Mr Lestrange, you acted in such a disgusting manner, such as I have never seen yet of a student, I want you to go up to the entrance of my office and wait there."  
  
Dumbledore turned to James and Sirius.  
  
"And I shall have to take seventy points from Gryffindor for you two as well," he said, without the usual twinkle in his eyes, "And, Mr Black, unless you think you're alright, I'd like you to go to the Hospital Wing with Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy."  
  
He faced the crowd and said, "That will be all, no one else has any reason to stay - I believe you have lessons to get to."  
  
Sirius, with the help of Remus and James, made his way to the Hospital Wing, staggering slightly. As soon as they were out of the crowds, and the earshot of anyone, Sirius began to seethe with wrath.  
  
"That...GIT!" he yelled, buckling slightly, "I hate him so much, that ruddy," Sirius called Lestrange something that caused Remus to tut disapprovingly.  
  
They walked slowly up the steps which led to the corridor where the Hospital Wing was, but they were confronted by Narcissa, who stood with her arms crossed at the end of the corridor.  
  
She walked over to the boys looking very disgruntled, and when she came right up to Sirius, she paused momentarily, and then slapped him hard across the face.  
  
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU DOZY MARE?" Remus yelled at her.  
  
"Shut up, weirdo," she said to him curtly, "Now listen here, Sirius, you dare touch my Lucius again, I'll rip your manhood out of its place from between your legs and stuff it down your throat. Not that it'll make any difference, mind - that Rodolphus seems to have done lasting damage on them."  
  
With a final derisive smile and girlish wave, she headed off in the opposite direction.  
  
"TEN POINTS FROM SLYTHERIN!" Remus yelled after her.  
  
When they had gotten to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey gave Sirius a Potion to ease the pain in his body.  
  
"Where's that Malfoy?" Remus asked, looking round.  
  
"Dunno," James replied, "And what did your cousin mean by HER Malfoy? They're not going out are they?"  
  
Sirius heaved a sigh, she must have been, because that was her task to accomplish, and it seemed she had succeeded at that.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
LOL What do you make of THAT then? I know it was a bit long, but I was in London for the weekend and ideas just poured outta my head like blood from a stab wound :P  
  
hehe well anyways, surely you know the score by now - no Reviews, no next Chapter. Thank You, Thank You very much!  
  
Alexei James xXx ^_^ 


	5. The Instructions

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Five: The Instructions~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Hey Padfoot, mate," Remus voice rang through Sirius ears, waking him up from his momentary daydream, "You're meant to be Transfiguring the pumpkin into a raven, not a rook."  
  
Sirius pointed his wand at the rook and muttered, "Alitum Corvus," and the rook's beak changed colour to jet black, and its wings became bluish black. The raven now began cawing noisily, fitting in with the others cawing around it.  
  
"You okay?" Remus asked, looking at Sirius' troubled face.  
  
"Yeah, I just..." Sirius began but then twirling his wand between his fingers.  
  
Remus stared at him; James was banned from Transfiguration for the rest of the week and sat at the back of class writing essays. Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall was recovering from her faint in the Hospital Wing, thus a temporary teacher, Professor Hermes, a very large, round faced Wizard with curly grey hair, had been covering her classes since.  
  
"Okay class," Professor Hermes announced, "when your pumpkin is satisfactorily a cawing raven, I want you to test how well you have Transfigured it by holding the silver thimbles I gave you at the start of class in front of it. If it feels the urge to continuously peck at the thimble, it is clear that you have changed the pumpkin's thoughts well."  
  
Remus held the thimble in front of his raven, which still had a stalk growing out of its head, and began staring at it, confused as to what it was.  
  
"You looking forward to tomorrow night?" Remus asked Sirius, who'd been looking thoroughly depressed since morning.  
  
Sirius turned his head abruptly to Remus and widened his gaze.  
  
"What?" Remus asked, noticing the shocked look upon his face, "You DID remember?"  
  
"Yeah, of course," Sirius frowned in concentration, "Hey, can we wrestle tomorrow? As animals, I mean."  
  
Remus raised his eyebrows so high, they would have disappeared into his brown hair if they went any further.  
  
"Why?" he asked with a puzzled frown now on his face.  
  
"Well, it'll be fun you know," Sirius said casually, "I mean we could have some sort of like tournament or something, right?"  
  
Remus sighed worriedly, "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah course I am, just please, promise me you'll wrestle me tomorrow."  
  
"Ouch!" Remus' raven had finally taken heed of the thimble and began pecking it profusely, "Okay then, but remember what I'm like when I'm... you know, transformed, I might just try to kill you."  
  
"I'll be careful, mate," Sirius said, the first smile for days forming upon his handsome face, "Thanks!"  
  
Remus smiled and simply replied, "No probs - OW! Damn this bird!"  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
With the coming prospect of receiving instructions on how to obtain a new ability by wrestling his friend as a werewolf, Sirius began to envisage what kind of fantastical power he could attain.  
  
Perhaps flying would be a good power or maybe being able to turn into a dragon - well he could already turn into a dog so that would not be too novel. Sirius did like the idea of frightening people simply by staring at them like his ancestor, Winchester Amadeus Black. At this point in time, Sirius was very proud to be a Black, and dreamed about scaring Rodolphus Lestrange to death all throughout dinner that night.  
  
"Oi, Padfoot!" Peter nudged Sirius in the arm from beside him, "Wake up would ya?"  
  
Sirius shook his head and looked round the table, surprised to see all his friends' faces upon him.  
  
"What?" he asked innocently.  
  
"Padfoot, you've been acting weird this whole week," James said, eyeing Sirius worriedly.  
  
Sirius simply tilted his head sideways disbelievingly.  
  
"You have!" Remus cried from beside Peter, "You've been staring into space a lot - today particularly, and this wrestling tournament was a bit of a bizarre concept..."  
  
"What's wrong with a bit of wrestling?" Sirius asked jovially, beaming round at them, "we're boys aren't we? We're MEANT to fight!"  
  
And he gave James a sharp punch in the arm, still smiling.  
  
"Ow!" James yelled, "That hurt, you know!"  
  
"Sorry there, mate," Sirius said edgily, "when you grow up with Andromeda coming to your house every other Sunday and play fighting with you, you begin to stop feeling pain. I mean look what she's done to poor Dominique, he's terrified of her!"  
  
"I thought he was her best friend?" Peter asked, chewing on his steak and kidney pie.  
  
"Oh he is," Sirius laughed, "but that's only because other people are frightened of her too - she has a mean backhand, my Andie."  
  
James sniggered, but Remus stood up suddenly, looking over to the end of the Gryffindor table.  
  
"What's up?" James asked him.  
  
Remus merely pointed to where he was looking and ran over.  
  
Sirius then saw what he had been gazing at - Martyn Mitochondria was standing over Bellatrix and, by the looks of it, had just performed the Knee-Bashing Curse, which resulted in Bellatrix's knees continuously banging into one another. Bellatrix was shrieking so badly that people began looking up to see what all the fuss was.  
  
Sirius sprinted over to where Bellatrix lay on the floor, screaming her head off and yelling, "YOU DIRTY MUDBLOOD! HOW DARE YOU CURSE ME?"  
  
It was quite a sight - Bellatrix Black, Sixth Year bully extraordinaire being cursed by a First Year boy who was barely taller than garden hedge.  
  
"FIFTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!" she screamed.  
  
A crowd had gather round Martyn and the shrieking Bellatrix, but no one seemed to want to help - it looked as if some even thought she deserved it.  
  
"What's all the fuss?" a silky voice came from behind them, and Sirius was pleased to see that it was the Potions Teacher, Professor Darnley.  
  
Although completely useless at his own subject, Professor Darnley found time to joke around in class, and was most possibly, Sirius' favourite teacher. He was also Head of Ravenclaw, though no one was sure quite why this was so. He stood tall on his sweeping purple robes, and he always had the same wide brimmed, towering top hat on his head, but this changed colour every so often, and at this point it was a nasty tinge of orange.  
  
"PROFESSOR!" Bellatrix yelled up at him.  
  
Professor Darnley got his wand out and performed the counter curse, and immediately Bellatrix's legs stops roving in and out. A few people laughed at how pathetic she looked lying on the floor.  
  
"HE DID IT!" Bellatrix yelled, pointing at Martyn, "Give him a month's detention, Professor! Make him live in a cage for Christmas! I want his life to be hell!"  
  
"Oh is that so?" Professor Darnley asked, his lip twitching, "I'm afraid you must be mistaken, Miss Black."  
  
Bellatrix's eyes widened, and a vein was throbbing in her temple, making her look so horribly unattractive as compared to her usual beauty.  
  
"Of course it was him!" she shrieked, "You saw it, I saw it, we all saw it!"  
  
She was waving her hands about manically now, and people were eyeing her worriedly - it appeared that the curse had made her a bit mad.  
  
"Do calm down, Miss Black," Professor Darnley said in his sly voice, "I do not believe it was young Martyn here at all. That curse that you were under had certainly not been cast by someone as young as he - Martyn is only his First Year, Miss Black."  
  
Martyn was grinning so widely now, that it would have been apparent to any other teacher that it was him who had cursed Bellatrix, but Professor Darnley was no ordinary teacher.  
  
"Of course it was him!" she shouted, "Ask the little midget, he won't deny such a thing!"  
  
"I can't believe you'd blame ME, Bellatrix," Martyn said innocently, "I mean, after all those times you made sure I noticed you in the corridors and between lesson, one would think you didn't like me. Surely that can't be true?"  
  
Sirius felt a grin forming upon his face - he had to hand it to the kid, his wit was great.  
  
"Well there you have it, Miss Black," Professor Darnley said crisply, "Mr Mitochondria is pleading Not Guilty, and I for one, believe him. Now I suggest we all finish our dinners, or else go to sleep and discuss the various methods to wander round school unnoticed after hours."  
  
He gave Martyn a small wink and made his way back to the Staff Table.  
  
"But he's obviously lying!" she screamed after him - but no one seemed to think it was Martyn anymore; even those who had seen him perform the curse with their own eyes. It seemed that they willed themselves to consider the possibility that they had been imagining things.  
  
But Sirius knew it was Martyn who had performed that curse, and was jolly well proud of him too, for now Bellatrix had plainly failed her task of mortally terrifying a Muggle Born. He clapped a hand on Martyn's back and smiled, once they were back in Gryffindor Tower.  
  
"You see," he said, grinning down at the tiny boy, "I knew you could do it - Bellatrix is all show most of the time. In fact, I'm quite impressed by the way you handled my poisonous cousin this evening."  
  
"Aren't you upset that I cursed your cousin?" he asked, looking terrified of Sirius even though he was sure that Sirius was on his side.  
  
"No of course not," he laughed, "We've been cursing one another for years, and I'm glad someone else could do it just as well."  
  
Martyn grinned up at Sirius with his gleaming blue eyes. But Sirius thought he saw something glitter in Martyn's eyes momentarily. He looked behind him to see if something had reflected in Martyn's eyes, but to no avail. Martyn was being congratulated by Remus and James now, who were sat by the fire, and Sirius shook his head, thinking it was just tiredness creeping its way into his already fatigued body.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"You got the map?" James asked Sirius, while rummaging around in his trunk looking for it.  
  
Sirius began to look in the pockets of his robes and felt a crinkly bit of parchment, and fished it out.  
  
"Yep, it's here," he declared.  
  
James stopped fumbling around and turned round to face Sirius.  
  
"Ah, good," he said, grinning widely, "We'll need it tonight, even if we have the Invisibility Cloak. Now where's Wormtail got to? We can't leave without him."  
  
James strode out of the dormitory and walked down to the Common Room to look for Peter.  
  
This is the night, Sirius thought, biting down on his lip ring, I could be flying around by tomorrow and Bellatrix won't believe her eyes when she sees him soaring above her...  
  
The door opened and Peter walked in looking flushed.  
  
"Where've you been?" Sirius asked, curiously.  
  
"Wha...I - uh..." Peter began looking round the room, and walked over to his bed, "I was in the Owlery, just writing a letter, to my...Mum. Yeah, my Mum."  
  
"Okay then," Sirius said quietly - he wasn't stupid, he could tell when someone was lying, and Peter was about as subtle as Narcissa's make up. But he didn't particularly care what Peter was doing in the Owlery for so long - he had family business to attend to.  
  
Walking under the Invisibility Cloak was never too hard when they made their monthly visit to their transformed friend's temporary abode, as it was only James and Sirius under the Cloak - Peter, being able to transform into a mouse, would change into it before the other two, tottering ahead of them.  
  
"Ouch, that was my foot!" James breathed from beside Sirius, holding the Marauder's Map in his hand - Apollyon Pringle, the Caretaker was on the Sixth Floor, and Peeves the Poltergeist was bouncing happily through the Charms Corridor yet again.  
  
"Sorry, but you have to stop walking into me," Sirius whispered irritably.  
  
"Shhh!"  
  
They somehow managed to stagger their way outside and into the cold night air of the Hogwarts grounds. They stumbled around until they came to the familiar thrashing sounds of the murderous tree that had been planted five years ago - the Whomping Willow.  
  
"Okay, let's do it then," James said, pulling to Cloak off and transforming into a stag in a matter of seconds. Prongs pawed the ground, as Sirius stuffed the Invisibility Cloak into his pocket and transformed into a large black dog.  
  
Padfoot barked at the stag who snorted heatedly at him.  
  
Peter ran through the undergrowth and, evading the Whomping Willow's furious branches, he got to the trunk of the tree and pressed the knot upon it. And in an instant, the tree froze completely, just swaying slightly in the cold night breeze.  
  
Prongs galloped forwards and slid into the crevice beneath the Willow - Peter had already gone through.  
  
Padfoot snarled, pricking his ears up anxiously, then bounded forwards and disappeared into the gap at the trunk of the Whomping Willow.  
  
He crawled through the dark tunnel, thinking about what he would be doing when he met his friend transformed into a man-eating werewolf. And he remembered the possibility of a new power, and growled happily within the tunnel.  
  
When he'd finally emerged, Prongs was already cantering around the Shrieking Shack, and banging his horns into the boarded up windows. Wormtail was stood balanced on the banister, squeaking merrily at Prongs.  
  
Padfoot barked loudly, making Prongs look up and Wormtail to fall off the banister and onto the stairs beside him.  
  
Padfoot, looked around the room, in search of Moony, but to no avail. Then, suddenly there was a crash from above them, making dust fall from the ceiling - Moony was upstairs.  
  
Padfoot gathered up his energy and bounded up the stairs and to the door of the bedroom from whence the sounds came from.  
  
The werewolf was growling and snarling inside, banging into the walls and, by the sounds of it, breaking apart the bed. Padfoot pushed the door open and came face to face with Moony.  
  
Moony looked up and snarled, jumping over to Padfoot on all fours.  
  
This was his chance, he had to wrestle Remus - Padfoot's heart beat like a drum beneath his ribs and black fur. His tail wagged like made behind him, and he could feel the primal instincts rising inside his body.  
  
Padfoot bared his teeth, snarling, and barked loudly at Moony. Prongs and Wormtail came tottering up the stairs, and opened the door to the bedroom in which Moony and Padfoot were.  
  
Padfoot braced himself and suddenly charged at the werewolf, roaring in its face. The werewolf howled back, as Padfoot's paws hit its chest and he staggered backwards.  
  
The werewolf grabbed Padfoot by the middle and using its great big hairy clawed arms, it threw him up against the bed.  
  
Padfoot howled as his hip bashed against the side of the bed. The werewolf seemed raring to go now, and making its way towards Padfoot, picked him up and began slashing at his face with furious swipes.  
  
Padfoot howled even more loudly, and Prongs came from behind and hit the werewolf with his long horns. The horns poked the werewolf in several places, and seemed to have broken one of his ribs too. It ran howling once again throughout the room.  
  
Padfoot got up off the floor, his face bleeding and with a final attempt, ran at Moony, causing him to fall backwards. Then he whipped his paw across the werewolf's face, and suddenly, a white light fell upon Padfoot, and the whole of the Shack and all its activity froze instantaneously.  
  
A large shrouded figure descended from the zenith of the white light, and Padfoot saw that it was Maxilla.  
  
Maxilla's black hair and black robes flew behind him like billowing smoke, and when he came face to face with Padfoot, he began to speak in the same unctuous tone he had used a few days ago in the Black Room:  
  
'On All Hallows Eve, thou must invoke the demonic presence of the Dark being Azazel. Thou hast four hebdomads to prepare for the deed - 'till All Hallows Eve.'  
  
Maxilla closed his eyes and began to rise upwards again, back into the mysterious source of the angelic light.  
  
The light was fading now, and motion seemed to come back into the room slowly, as Prongs began to thrash his head gradually backwards.  
  
And then suddenly, the sounds and movement rushed in, as the werewolf howled yet again, and covered its face with its paws.  
  
Sirius was utterly disgusted with what he had just done, and could feel the deep human feelings coming back - but he couldn't let himself transform yet...  
  
Quick as a flash, Padfoot got up off Moony's chest and ran out the door, bounded down the stair and rushed into the tunnel leading to the outside of the Whomping Willow.  
  
He tottered out of the hole and transformed back into Sirius, on his way back up the steps to the castle.  
  
Sirius sat down on the step and gazed at the Whomping Willow which was once again thrashing its whip-like branches in every direction murderously. He could not believe what he had just done - he had hurt his friend, and Prongs, though helping Sirius, had caused damage to Remus' ribs.  
  
Sirius was feeling utterly guilty now, and just wanted to go up to Remus and hug him, apologising over and over. A cool breeze played across the grounds and Sirius felt its icy touch on his face and he felt something trickling down his face - he was bleeding. Sirius conjured up a mirror, with his wand and saw that his cheek was severely scratched and his lip was bleeding.  
  
He took hold of his lower lip and removed the lip ring. And holding it in his hands, whilst watching the Whomping Willow's branches, Sirius felt a heavy and burdensome amount of guilt build up inside his stomach. He loved his friends, they were like brothers to him - how could he do something so cold and callous?  
  
Sirius finally got up, sighing, not sure where his legs were taking him, and made his way back to Gryffindor Tower, somehow unnoticed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hehehe, that cheeky Sirius, wrestling his friends all for a magical power he doesn't need!  
  
LOL Well, R&R my children for then, thou can be sure that the great writer Alexei Noire will write more for thou.  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D  
  
p.s. If anyone has any suggestions or questions about Black Magick, then feel free to email me - my address is on my Bio. THANKS! 


	6. Halloween Ouija

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
Anyways, here's a rather dark chapter love Alexei Noire xXx :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Six: Halloween Ouija~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It had been a week since the incident at the Shrieking Shack, but the memory was as crisp as ever in Sirius' mind. Although Remus had forgiven him totally, and had recovered in a matter of days from the injuries, it haunted Sirius and plagued him to think that he had beaten his friend up, just for a new superpower that he didn't even receive - all he got was a measly and very cryptic instruction.  
  
The words iterated themselves in Sirius' head and every detail bounced off the corners of his mind. But it still didn't make any sense at all - how on earth was he meant to work out how to bring forth a demon from the depths of its hellish dimension before Halloween?  
  
What he needed was some help, and the first person he'd turn to in a situation like this would be James, but he wasn't allowed to discuss the Black Challenge with anyone but another Black, so Sirius decided to go for his only other option - Andromeda.  
  
"Hey Andie!" Sirius yelled to his cousin, who sat by the Lake, poking at some Grindylows who had made their way to the shallows. Dominique was sat beside her, totally absorbed in a book entitled 'Hogwarts: A History'.  
  
"Oh hi there Sirius!" she yelled back, shading her eyes from the bright sun which shone down upon them during on this October's Saturday.  
  
"Listen," Sirius said, sitting down next to her, "That was a great match last week, and those nine goals you scored were superb!"  
  
Andromeda suddenly began to fall forwards, as the Grindlow had grabbed hold of the stick she had been poking it with, and started to drag her down.  
  
Sirius quickly got his wand out and yelled, "DISCERPO!" and the stick broke in the middle, causing Andromeda to fall backwards and land onto the dry soil behind her with a thud.  
  
"Thanks," she said, grimacing at the pain in the region of her lower back.  
  
"No problem," he said casually, "Anyway there was something I'd been meaning to talk to you about."  
  
"What? You want to gloat some more about how your Prongs caught the Snitch after my ninth goal?" she laughed derisively.  
  
Sirius coughed pompously, "Err no, it's more about the THING, you know that family thing?"  
  
Dominique looked up from his book and rolled his eyes, "Fine, I'll leave - I don't need telling twice."  
  
As soon as Dominique had disappeared into the castle, Sirius began to tell Andromeda everything - about how he had managed to find a werewolf, how the large scab across his cheek was due to that fight and about Maxilla's vague instructions that he just could not work out. The only thing he didn't tell her was that the werewolf was one of his best friends.  
  
Clouds had now made their way into the sky and were moving fast, darkening the grounds.  
  
Andromeda sighed, "Well then...I suppose I'll have to help you then."  
  
Sirius smiled widely and hugged his cousin tightly, "Thanks Andie! I wasn't sure if you'd say yes or not, but you really made my day! Thanks!"  
  
"That's quite alright," she said patting Sirius' head condescendingly.  
  
Thunder rumbled overhead, forewarning a potential storm.  
  
"Come on, we'd better get inside," Sirius said, looking to the sky.  
  
They got up off the ground, and began to walk up the grounds to the castle. All of a sudden, there was a strange sort of music coming from somewhere near them.  
  
The pair paused, as they heard more of the music - it was a deep, throbbing, mournful song that sounded quite upsetting.  
  
"What the cowin' eck was that?" Andromeda asked Sirius, who looked just as bemused.  
  
"It's coming from the Forest!" he cried, pointing to a nearby tree.  
  
They ran towards the Forest, and saw the most unusual sight they had ever seen - dozens of dull green Augureys were coming out of their teardrop shaped nests and singing their mournful song.  
  
"They're Augureys!" Sirius cried, "Come on, let's catch one!"  
  
But Andromeda held his arm in a firm grip before he could take off.  
  
"There's no point of that now, is there?" she said to him, through the increasing winds, "I already know what to do next."  
  
Sirius nodded and the pair of them ran inside after a group of Hufflepuff Third Years.  
  
"We should start on this straightaway," Andromeda said to him, once they were in the Entrance Hall, "To the Library!"  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"You found anything yet?" Sirius asked, coming back with an armful of books from the Restricted Section. Because Sirius had taken Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts, he was allowed to take books from the Restricted Section, although he had a time explaining to Madam Valerie as to why he wanted 'Demonic Possession for Beginners' and 'Demonic Lords of Duat'.  
  
"Umm, well this is all about how demons in the past have possessed people, it even tells you how to do it and all," Andromeda said to Sirius who had sat down opposite her and began looking through 'Chief Devils Replenished'.  
  
Sirius sighed, looking over at her, "Uh, well then add that to the precaution pile - we don't know if Azazel might want to possess us after we bring him forth."  
  
Andromeda shuddered, "Are you sure you actually want to do this?" she asked unsteadily.  
  
"Yeah," he replied, "I want to show Bellatrix I can do anything she could."  
  
"Do you reckon Narcissa's got the message?" she asked, without looking up at him.  
  
"Possibly, I mean she DID woo that Malfoy kid," Sirius answered, still reading his book, "but I don't know if she's bright enough to figure out how to invoke demons, in fact I'm even sure she WOULD go as far as using Magic that Dark."  
  
Andromeda looked up at him, "You mean we're going to perform Dark Magic?"  
  
"Well I am," Sirius responded, still gazing at the mouldy pages of the book before him, "You won't have to do anything, except help me look for a way to do it."  
  
Andromeda heaved a sigh, "But Sirius this is bad - very bad."  
  
Sirius didn't reply her, he just continued to look through the book which contained ways of returning Devils to earth from hell, but you had to go back to the place that the Archangels had vanquished them - and a lot of the places were in the Middle East or in the midst of some faraway, Unplottable desert.  
  
After about an hour, Andromeda looked up and cried, "Eureka!" making a few people's heads to turn in her direction - the Library was fairly full today.  
  
"SHUT UP!" Madam Valerie yelled from behind a bookshelf.  
  
"Sorry!" she said to her, but carried on in a more urgent whisper to Sirius, "Look! Read this!" and she thrust 'Gateways to Hell' at him.  
  
Sirius began to skim the book, and his eyes widened in surprise, but a grim smirk appeared on his face too.  
  
"Ouija Board?" he asked.  
  
"Yes!" Andromeda seemed astonished at her own brilliance, "Of course! Look, even Muggles have come to use it - but THEY think it's a way to communicate with dead people, what twaddle! They don't realise what we do - that it opens up a gateway into the darkest demonic dimensions!"  
  
Sirius heaved a very long sigh.  
  
"Isn't this meant to be dangerous for anyone involved? Maybe I should do this alone," he asked her.  
  
"Oh, I'm not scared!" she said, waving her hand impatiently, "And I'm not having you botch things up on your own."  
  
Andromeda seemed highly excited by all this, but Sirius was still unsure about it all.  
  
"Maybe if we give it a miss?" he asked tentatively.  
  
"No way are you giving up on this now!" she breathed, punching his arm moodily, "I'm going to do this with or without you!"  
  
Sirius rested his face in his hands, "I still don't get how raising a demon will give us powers."  
  
"Well maybe he'll tell us how to get them," Andromeda explained thoughtfully.  
  
"Yeah okay then, Andie," Sirius said to her without smiling, "we'll do this - but we'll need to be careful, and it says here that there's several precautions we need to take beforehand."  
  
Andromeda's face lit up and she punched Sirius once on the arm, this time, happily.  
  
"Attaboy!" she cried.  
  
"Do you ever shut up!?" a loud and rude voice came from behind Andromeda - Madam Valerie was standing over her with her large pretty, cow-like eyes, "All you ever do is cause a racket, get out! OUT!"  
  
Andromeda stood up and towered over the pompous librarian, "Well I don't want to stay where a tight lipped old cow raises her own blood temperature at the slightest pin drop. See ya, Miss Cowface!"  
  
And with that, Andromeda strode out of the Library, in all her dignity.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
It was the week before Halloween and Sirius had gone as far as telling Remus, who he seemed to be trying to make his new best friend that he was going to play the Ouija. Not surprisingly, Remus didn't have the foggiest as to why he wanted to raise demons on All Hallow's Eve.  
  
"I just don't see the point of it, Padfoot," Remus told him he umpteenth time, "I mean, Azazel is meant to be a very dark and evil demon, in fact it's been said that his mere appearance can terrify mortals witless."  
  
Sirius smiled down at him, and hugged him tightly - this had become quite normal now, as Sirius had started to constantly hug Remus, because he was so sorry for what he'd done in the Shrieking Shack.  
  
"Look, Sirius, mate," Remus said gruffly, "You don't have to do that - seriously, I'm okay. People will start talking if you keep touching me like this."  
  
Sirius loosened his grip and patted Remus' shoulder. "Sorry, Remus, but I worry about you, you know?"  
  
Remus sighed, and looked down at his shoes, unsure as to what to say next - he was not used to such an overt show of emotion around his mates. Sirius began to fold his school robes from his trunk.  
  
"Umm you know, that Evans girl's mate fancies you," Remus said finally, breaking the silence.  
  
Sirius stopped folding his robes, and paused.  
  
"Oh...I-I'm sorry, mate I didn't mean anything," Remus said quickly, busying himself with the Marauder's Map. Since the girl had first spoken to Sirius, she had been trying various ways of getting his attention - but Sirius just wasn't interested.  
  
"It's okay," Sirius replied, without facing him, "Slappers like her don't need to be thought about twice."  
  
The door to the dormitory opened and James walked in, looking very blanched, and shivering. He was carrying his broomstick and put it safely into his trunk.  
  
"Padfoot, mate," James began, "That blonde friend of Lily's - Jenny DeLonge, she keeps saying she wants to talk to you alone. She won't leave ME alone - hounding me as soon as I walked into the Common Room, she's bad news, mate. I'd keep away from her."  
  
Sirius nodded, and took out the Ouija Board that he and Andromeda had made themselves by copying a template out of 'Gateways to Hell' and put it onto his bed. It was a large wooden board, that could have served as a good chopping board had it not had the alphabet, numbers nought to nine, a 'Yes' and a 'No' towards the top and a big bold 'GOODBYE' at the bottom written on it with shiny black paint.  
  
James looked over to Sirius' bed, and stared at the Ouija Board.  
  
"You're not planning on actually using that are you?" he asked Sirius uncertainly.  
  
"'Course I am," Sirius replied, "It's not for decoration is it?"  
  
Remus caught James eyes and shook his head hopelessly, as if to indicate that there was no point in talking him out of using the Ouija.  
  
James opened his mouth, but thought better of it, and merely sat down on Sirius' bed, and looked down at the board.  
  
"It's great isn't it?" Sirius asked him, still transfixed at the board.  
  
"Umm yeah, it's gorgeous, mate," James answered him reassuringly, "when you gonna use it?"  
  
Sirius looked up at him with a manic glint in his eyes, "On Halloween."  
  
James looked to Remus, "Did you know about this?"  
  
Remus nodded his head.  
  
"And you're not going to try and stop him?"  
  
"I'm sat right here!" Sirius cried angrily.  
  
Remus got up off the bed and laid a reassuring hand on Sirius' shoulder.  
  
"No I'm not going to stop him," he said confidently, "If Sirius wants to do Ouija on All Hallows Eve, then Sirius will do Ouija on All Hallows Eve!"  
  
James sighed hopeless and shrugged his shoulders - he was unyielding and stubborn, and there was no point in stopping him.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"You ready?" Sirius asked Andromeda.  
  
"Yeah, I will be as soon we get out on the grounds," she replied.  
  
"Well, then we'll meet in the Entrance Hall after the Halloween Feast, yeah?" Sirius asked, looking into his cousin's dark eyes, which now looked severely troubled.  
  
She nodded and headed off to the Hufflepuff Table to sit down next to Dominique. They had decided to play the Ouija in the Hogwarts grounds, away from any unsuspecting people, it also made sense because they could not do it in their Common Rooms seeing as they were in different houses.  
  
The Great Hall was aflutter with a black cloud of live bats that flew hither and thither over the House tables. There were carved pumpkins the size of watermelons floating above the tables, and the flambeaux were lit with a reddish fire that blazed angrily.  
  
Sirius made his way to the Gryffindor table, with a large satchel slung over his arm containing the Ouija Board and other necessary items. He sat down next to Remus, who was already helping himself to 'Banshee Bones', which were actually long corn cakes, made to look like greenish bones.  
  
"I'm not touching THAT," Peter said, eyeing the Banshee Bones with apprehension and disgust.  
  
"Mmmm, they're actually quite nice," James said, munching through a Banshee Bone.  
  
At that moment, Lily Evans and her gang of girls walked by, and Jenny DeLonge waved at Sirius.  
  
"Dear Lord," Sirius muttered, giving Jenny a very stern look, "can't she see I'm not interested?"  
  
James laughed, "Why? She not your type?"  
  
Sirius laughed shortly and helped himself to some Pumpkin Pasties.  
  
"Well, now that you mention it... no she's not," Sirius said, through a mouthful of Pasty, "she's too..."  
  
"What - pretty?" Peter asked, from across the table.  
  
"No, she's nice looking and all, I suppose," Sirius continued, looking over to Jenny, who appeared to have taken very little food, "A bit skinny, a bit too girly and well, too perfect!"  
  
"Well who IS your type then?" Remus asked from beside him.  
  
"Uhhh, someone like... Sylvia Plath," Sirius answered to an assembly of confounded expressions.  
  
"Who?" James asked insolently.  
  
"She's a Muggle author, a bit morbid, despondent and oh so mysterious," Sirius said, chewing on a Banshee Bone.  
  
Peter laughed, "You weirdo! The only person I can think of like that at Hogwarts is your Bellatrix!"  
  
Sirius gave Peter a disgusted look, and punched his arm from across the table.  
  
"OW! I was just messing, Padfoot!" Peter replied, looking dejected.  
  
Sirius looked over to the Hufflepuff table for Andromeda - she appeared rather grave and distressed, and rightly so - she and Sirius were going to be raising demons in a matter of minutes.  
  
At the Staff Table, Professor Darnley was munching away at the Banshee Bones and his temperamental hat had become a deep red. Professor Aquinas, the Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher, who was a squat Wizard with a short grey hair and a permanently astounded expression on his face, was eyeing the Pumpkin Pasties warily - he loved being surprised. McGonagall was back, and she was looking as resolute as ever. Professor Dumbledore was looking quite tired today, and kept blinking deeply every so often. Professor Flitwick, however seemed absolutely hyper and was doing a sort of jig upon his table, attracting a lot of attention and cheers.  
  
Soon, everyone had eaten their fill and dessert had now appeared before them - but Sirius was not planning on eating any.  
  
He got up off his seat, slung his bag over his shoulder, and stood, hoping Andromeda would see him.  
  
"What you doing?" Remus asked, looking up at him.  
  
Andromeda looked up momentarily, and Sirius quickly waved his arms to catch her eye. She looked his way, and looked down at her plate but abruptly looked back up.  
  
Sirius pointed outside towards the door to the Great Hall and Andromeda got up quickly, wrapping her cloak around her.  
  
"You going somewhere?" James asked curiously.  
  
"Uhh... I'll explain later remember?" Sirius replied tentatively.  
  
James' eyes widened.  
  
"You mean, this is to do with the family business thing? - It's still going on?" he asked, avidly.  
  
"Something like that," Sirius answered cryptically.  
  
Andromeda was stood by the door and beckoned him toward her.  
  
With a final wave to his friends, Sirius ran off to meet her, but as they began to leave, a coarse, irked voice came from behind them.  
  
"Going somewhere?" the voice asked, clapping a withered hand onto Sirius shoulder, and he saw, turning round that it was Apollyon Pringle, the caretaker at Hogwarts. With his slit-like eyes, withered face and grey cloak, he looked like old age personified.  
  
"We...were just off to the Owlery to write to my Mum," Sirius invented quickly, remembering Peter's feeble fib.  
  
"Oh is that so?" he asked, in his rough cockney voice.  
  
"Yeah, we thought we'd do it before bed," Andromeda replied without hesitation, "that's not against the rules is it?"  
  
"W-Well not entirely, no," Pringle muttered, "Very Well, be off with you then."  
  
Sirius tried not to smile, and kept a straight face all the way to the Entrance Hall, where he and Andromeda broke into a run, opening the oaken front doors through giggles.  
  
"Did you see his face, when he realised we weren't breaking any rules?" Andromeda laughed.  
  
"Ahh old Pringle - I wonder if his successor will be as callous as he towards students," Sirius thought.  
  
"Yeah, I heard he's retiring this year, and that some bloke called Filch is replacing him," Andromeda said, walking down the stone steps.  
  
"Hmm, sounds like a decent guy."  
  
"Well anyone's gotta be better than Pringle!" she said, now nearing the Forest.  
  
They laughed all the way to the edge of the Forest, at which point they both lit their wands and proceeded further, acting more seriously now.  
  
The Blacks treaded slowly and carefully, making sure they didn't attract any unwanted attention from the wild creatures that roamed the Forest, particularly at night.  
  
"Why did he ask us to do this tonight?" Andromeda whispered.  
  
"Well it's All Hallow's Eve innit?" he responded, from in front of her, "the night upon which darkest creatures walk the earth once more."  
  
Andromeda shivered, she was getting quite unsure about this whole thing now, it had all seemed so much more exciting from the comfort of the Library.  
  
After a few minutes, Sirius stopped in his tracks.  
  
"This place is fine," he said, "not too further in, and not clearly visible from the grounds either."  
  
"But what if the gamekeeper comes into the Forest?" she asked.  
  
"Hagrid?" Sirius laughed, "What business would he have in the Forbidden Forest upon Halloween?"  
  
Andromeda eyed Sirius nervously, as he sat down upon the ground.  
  
"Look let's just get this over with, eh?" he said, patting a hand on her shoulder.  
  
Andromeda nodded and sat down on the ground opposite Sirius.  
  
Sirius removed the Ouija Board, a glass, a picture of Azazel and a small bag of salt from the satchel. He placed the board before them and put the picture of Azazel next to it.  
  
"What's the glass and salt for?" Andromeda asked, puzzled.  
  
Sirius looked up at her and smiled. He began to pour a circle of salt around the Ouija board and the picture.  
  
"Salt," he explicated, "is said to repel evil spirits. So if our Azazel does show up, he won't be able to possess us or harm us in any way."  
  
"Ah," Andromeda replied, "And the glass?"  
  
"This," he said, brandishing the glass, "is going to be our planchette."  
  
"Our - what now?"  
  
"Our planchette," he repeated, "the moving part of the board, upon which we put our hands and the glass will move to different places on the board. Andie, I thought you read up on this."  
  
"Well I missed out the boring bits," she replied, tightening her cloak around her.  
  
Sirius put the bag of salt beside him, and turned the glass upside down upon the Ouija Board. He looked at the picture of Azazel and then to his shivering cousin.  
  
"Look, this way," he said soothingly, "we'll get new powers, perform complicated magic, AND win one over on Bellatrix."  
  
Andromeda nodded, the night was very chilly and she was sure that her constant shivering would attract attention from some dark creature in the Forest.  
  
Sirius got out the book, 'Gateways to Hell' from his bag and turned to the page upon which the beckoning incantation was written.  
  
"You have to read this with me," he explained to Andromeda, "I've already written out the particular beckoning incantation for Azazel, so all you have to do is read it and concentrate upon invoking Azazel, no one else but. As soon as we begin this, we'll open up a doorway and demons will be flocking from all over, but we can't let that happen okay?"  
  
Andromeda heaved a sigh and nodded tensely.  
  
"Right," he said, returning to the book, "place your hand upon the glass, Andie and read this with me."  
  
Sirius got out the piece of parchment he had placed in the pages of 'Gateways to Hell' and placed it in between Sirius and Andromeda.  
  
The two Blacks looked at one another briefly, then looked down at the parchment, hands on planchette.  
  
"Come forth, Come forth, Lord of the Dark, Understudy to the Darkest - Satan," they chanted in unison, "I call thee! Adeo! Adeo! ADEO! Speak to us here, upon the Eve of All Hallows, I invoke thee - I INVOKE THEE!"  
  
And suddenly, there was a cold wind that rustled through the trees, making the Blacks shiver terribly. Then, without warning, the upturned glass moved to the 'Yes' on the board.  
  
"Oh... my... Lord," Andromeda breathed, she looked up at Sirius, wide-eyed.  
  
Sirius looked back at her, the same expression upon his handsome face, he bit down on his lip ring, through steadied breaths.  
  
"Is this Lord Azazel, Chief Demon under the will of Satan?" Sirius asked to no one in particular.  
  
The glass abruptly moved to the 'Yes' once again.  
  
"Oh... crap..." Andromeda whimpered - she looked close to tears, something that barely ever happened to her.  
  
Sirius took a deep breath, but kept his hand on the glass, this was their chance to get powers so he wouldn't blow it that easily.  
  
"Let me handle this," Sirius said to his cousin.  
  
Andromeda nodded, too thunderstruck to speak.  
  
"If you really are Lord Azazel," he asked, "Then tell me, which three letters will be written upon the Beast upon the Days of Calamity?"  
  
He had read about how to tell if a demon was really who they claimed to be by asking them certain questions that only that demon would know. In this case, Sirius had looked up on the history of Azazel in 'Demonic Lords of Duat' and memorised a series of questions to ask.  
  
The planchette shifted to the letter 'K', then to 'F' and finally to 'R' - he was correct.  
  
"Let's go, Sirius," Andromeda said shakily.  
  
"No, we can't just leave it like this, Andie!" he cried, "It'd be even worse, leaving a gateway open to all sorts of dark spirits."  
  
Andromeda grumbled and closed her eyes.  
  
"Tell me," Sirius continued, addressing the Ouija, "Who is the Chief Lord of the Third Valley in Hell?"  
  
The planchette quivered slightly, then spelt out the word 'Abaddon' - it passed once more.  
  
Sirius was now convinced this was Azazel, so he asked it the question, the REAL question. The one that would tell the Blacks whether their venture into a dark forest full of danger, in the night upon Halloween was worthwhile or just a waste of time.  
  
"Lord Azazel," he said, "Understudy to the Darkest, tell me, explain - how is it that we shall get our new powers promised to us by Maxilla Ulnaris Black?"  
  
The plancette remained still. Andromeda looked to Sirius, her eyes looking eerily bluish in the pale wandlight.  
  
"Well do you know or not?" he asked.  
  
The glass abruptly shifted to GOODBYE, and without warning, smashed before them.  
  
"Can we leave now?" Andromeda asked, a definite note of panic now in her voice.  
  
Siirus shook his head, "Just help me gather this stuff up, but leave the picture of Azazel."  
  
Andromeda picked up the Ouija Board and swept the shards of broken glass off it onto the ground. Sirius then took the board and put it back into his bag, as well as 'Gateways to Hell' and the parchment upon which the beckoning incantation was written.  
  
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Andromeda asked, pointing to the salt bag next to him.  
  
"No, we might need this later, and by the way," he said, pulling out a piece of alabaster-white parchment with writing on it in black ink, "take this."  
  
Andromeda read the title in the wandlight, "The Lord's Prayer? What's this for?"  
  
"For protection - if there's one thing that repels any demon, it's any mention of God."  
  
"Are you sure?" she asked, uncertainly.  
  
"Positive, Andie," he replied, moving the picture of Azazel to the middle of the ring of salt he had made.  
  
Andromeda got to her feet, and looking down at her good-looking cousin asked, "Well what now?"  
  
Sirius heaved a particularly long sigh, and replied, "Now, we ask Azazel to show himself."  
  
Andromeda whimpered, stepping back slightly.  
  
"Please, Andie I need you for this," he said, looking up at his tall cousin.  
  
Andromeda didn't move.  
  
"Look, any sign that we're in danger - we run for our lives okay?" he said, gravely.  
  
Andromeda nodded, and walked forward, she then sat down opposite Sirius once more and eyed the picture of Azazel tentatively.  
  
"Right, we have to link hands now," he said, taking hold of Andromeda's icy hands.  
  
He looked meaningfully into his cousin's eyes and smiled reassuringly.  
  
"I take thine name, Lord of the Dark, He who art under the rule of Satan," Sirius began in a serious voice, unlike his own, "I urge thee, appareo - show thyself. I ask thee - show thyself!"  
  
He looked at Andromeda and urged her to do the same and both Blacks said in loud voices, "SHOW THYSELF! SHOW THYSELF!"  
  
Suddenly there was a short tremor, pulsing from beneath the children, and the Blacks let go of each other's hands. There appeared cracks in the ring of salt, and from it shone eerie green light that became brighter as the cracks lengthened, but they didn't spread beyond the salt.  
  
The picture of Azazel caught fire all of a sudden, and crumbled up into putrid ashes.  
  
"Crap!" Sirius breathed, falling backwards and watching with horror as a spindly, bright red hand shot upwards from the ground, followed by another arm, with an enormous red crab claw on the end of it. The monster proceeded to expel itself from its demonic dimension in the gateway of the ground, and the Blacks looked with terror upon the demonic presence of Lord Azazel - the chief demon.  
  
Before them stood what looked like a horribly mixed up being, it seemed to have stolen parts of several creatures to be created. Its head was most unusual - it looked a lot like a goat's but its eyes were a sickly yellow colour, devoid of any pupils. It had more of a human mouth than anything else, surrounded by a bushy black goatee. Upon its head were two pointed spiralling horns that looked very charred indeed. It had the torso of a man, but the legs of what seemed to be a very shaggy goat, with strangely toed hooves. On its back were two gigantic black bat-like wings that were twice the size of the beast's body. But the worst and most intimidating feature was its tails, which ended in an array of bright green snakes, all snapping malevolently at one another.  
  
Sirius was too speechless to talk, he was sure the brute would realise where it was and eat him and his cousin up.  
  
Andromeda clutched the Lord's Prayer tightly in her hand, crumpling it beneath her white knuckles.  
  
"Lord A-Azazel?" Sirius asked, with a very throat.  
  
The beast turned to face Sirius and snarled, it then spoke in an indistinct language Sirius could not understand a word of.  
  
"I-I'm sorry," Sirius breathed, his heart hammering beneath his ribs, "but I can't understand you."  
  
Azazel snarled very harshly and, throwing his head back, let out the most unearthly and bloodcurdling wail Sirius had ever heard. Sirius could have sworn he was having an out of body experience, he seemed vaguely aware of his whereabouts and didn't know whether he was existing or dreaming.  
  
Andromeda screamed loudly and ran over to Sirius.  
  
"Let's get out of here!" she howled.  
  
Sirius then looked down to the ground upon which Azazel was stood and realised something - he couldn't move past the salt. It really did work!  
  
He then pointed this out to Andromeda who seemed happy enough to leave him stuck in the ring forever.  
  
But Sirius realised that the beast had no other way out, unless one of them broke the circle of salt, 'til then Lord Azazel would have to listen to Sirius.  
  
"Azazel!" Sirius called, getting up off the ground and brushing his robes off, "Can you help me then?"  
  
The demon growled at Sirius and began to bark deafeningly - someone was bound to be roused from the castle with that much noise.  
  
"Sirius let's go!" Andromeda wailed.  
  
"You go ahead, Andie," he said to her.  
  
"NO! I'm not leaving without you!" she cried, stamping her feet.  
  
"Well then you'll have to wait for me."  
  
Andromeda looked like she could have beaten the crap out of Sirius for even mentioning that - and make no mistake, she COULD.  
  
"Lord Azazel," Sirius said in a scathing, mocking tone, "Chief Demon eh? And Understudy to Satan himself eh? Hmm pretty impressive, I say. Now, surely someone as clever and in as high a position as yourself is well aware that you cannot cross the line of salt - it's the only thing stopping you from entering our dimension and tearing me to shreds."  
  
The demon eyed Sirius, emitting harsh breaths.  
  
"Sirius don't taunt him!" Andromeda yelled from behind them.  
  
"Andie, I got this under control!" he yelled back at her.  
  
Andromeda leant against a nearby tree sulkily.  
  
"Right, then Azazel," Sirius continued, "Surely you know as to why I called you here tonight?"  
  
Azazel made to attack Sirius with his crab-like claw.  
  
"Tut tut," Sirius said derisively, "One of the most powerful demons in existence and he can't overcome a sixteen-year-old wizard - that's disappointing Azazel, it really is."  
  
The demon's serpentine tails snapped furiously, and Azazel muttered once more in his own language.  
  
"Well then, let's make a deal, Lord," Sirius said, bending down to the edge of the salt circle, "I'll make an exit in the salt, so that you can escape if you tell us how we can attain these powers promised unto us."  
  
The demon considered this, making peculiar snorting sounds. After a while, Azazel bent down and, looking Sirius in the face, with his pale yellow eyes, uttered the only piece of speech that made any sense.  
  
"Let... me go before," he spoke in a deep, rumbling voice.  
  
"And you promise to explain how we'll get the powers then?" Sirius asked, enjoying the fact that one of the darkest devils of Hell was at his bidding.  
  
The beast stood back up and nodded slowly.  
  
Sirius abruptly turned to Andromeda, "Okay, I'm going to let him out now."  
  
"NO!" she screamed, "ARE YOU CRAZY!"  
  
"Andie!" he yelled, "Look, I want you to listen very carefully. I'm going to make a hole in the ring of salt, and although the gap will be tiny, he can slip out of it very easily. As soon as I yell 'go' I want you to run - run out of the Forest as quickly as you can, and recite the Lord's Prayer as you do, and most importantly - DO NOT LOOK BACK."  
  
Andromeda whimpered, and stared at Sirius with utter disbelief.  
  
My cousin's gone mad, she thought, he's lost it, he's dotty, he's beany, he's off his head!  
  
"You understand?" Sirius asked, without the slightest hint of anxiety in his voice, Andromeda nodded, horrified.  
  
Sirius brought his hand down to the salt circle, and Azazel mumbled contentedly. And in a flash, he made hole in the salt, and screamed, "GO!"  
  
Andromeda ran through the woods, trying to read the Lord's Prayer whilst fleeing like mad. Sirius was close behind her, but he was reciting another prayer.  
  
There was a terrible shriek from the depths of the Forest, and Sirius' heart almost jumped out of his chest as he saw that hovering a few feet above him was Azazel, his gargantuan wings spread out behind him like torn and crooked umbrellas.  
  
Sirius tried not to look back, as he began sprinting through the forest at full speed, with the snapping of Azazel's claw behind him. A burst of flame erupted before Sirius, and he immediately swerved quickly out of the way.  
  
The castle was nearing, the trees were thinning, and the grounds were becoming more visible - Sirius had no idea if Andromeda had escaped or not, all he knew was that she'd be safe is she did exactly as he told her to.  
  
Azazel's shrieks were becoming louder, and Sirius almost yelled out in horror, as the beast materialized before him, causing Sirius to stumble backwards and fall flat on the ground.  
  
Sirius had totally forgotten about the parchment in his right hand, which had upon it, verses from the Koran, which were a sure way to rid one of any evil.  
  
Azazel landed before Sirius, somehow looking twice as tall as he did when he was trapped in the salt circle.  
  
He growled, and smiled his wicked grin, and snapped his claw threateningly. Azazel walked forwards and pointed one spindly finger at Sirius.  
  
The feeling that Sirius felt at that point was utterly indescribable - it was as if his body was being pulled apart in every, there was a fire blazing beneath him and fine needles pricking him from every joint in his body.  
  
Sirius wanted to yell out, but he was in too much pain to make any noise.  
  
And then he felt for the second time that night, as if his body was a distant object - something he was watching rather than living in. The pain seemed to be vague now, and he wasn't sure whether it was madness or death overcoming him, but what he did know was that there was a parchment in his right hand, and this was his escape.  
  
Wishing frantically for release from this treachery, Sirius began to read the verses somehow without actually looking at them - for he could feel them through his hand. And as soon as he had begun to recite the Arabic verses, the pain diminished, and Azazel screeched into the night sky.  
  
Sirius continued to read it, as if he had them inscribed upon his heart, and Azazel burst into flames and vanished.  
  
Sirius grabbed a nearby branch, protruding from a tree beside him and made to get up, but found that his knees were feeling too weak to hold his body up and he fell back down. Now he was sure that he would die, there was no hope, some creature from the Forest would soon come and eat Sirius, and he could have cried.  
  
After what seemed like half an hour, there was a rustling from the trees behind Sirius.  
  
This is the wild werewolf coming to eat me now, he thought, well come on then, make it quick.  
  
But Sirius felt himself being hoisted up, and was utterly relieved to see James looking back at him with his hazel eyes.  
  
"Oh James!" Sirius sighed, falling into James' arms, sobbing horribly.  
  
"Hey, it's okay," James said, holding his friend tightly, "Andromeda ran into me on her way back. I was on my way over because I remembered that you said you would be playing Ouija."  
  
"Oh Prongs, it's all gone wrong!" Sirius sobbed, "I totally screwed things up, I'm such an idiot. First I beat Moony up, then I bring forth demonic beings and allow not only myself but my cousin to be in danger. I deserve to die, James, leave me here to die!"  
  
"Shhh," James said soothingly to his friend, "Let's get you out of here, eh? Now come on, stop sobbing, it's all okay - Andromeda's fine. No one blames you for anything, mate."  
  
Sirius leant onto James' arm and hobbled with him out of the Forest. The boys remained silent on their way out of the Forest.  
  
As soon as Sirius and James were back in their dormitory, Sirius felt a certain emptiness inside himself - one that he had never felt before, and it was damn depressing. He seemed to be upset for no particular reason and that was the worst part.  
  
He couldn't express how much he loved James for saving him, and refrained from jumping off the Astronomy Tower, just for his sake.  
  
James sat down next to Sirius, who was on the foot of his bed and put a reassuring arm around his best friend.  
  
"Look, Padfoot," he said to his fragile friend, "I don't know what happened back there in the Forest, but d'you know what? I don't CARE. I'm just glad you're okay. And I don't want to hear any of this rubbish about you wanting to die, because I'm not having it - you hear me?"  
  
Sirius nodded, a tear trickling down his face. James quickly wiped it away and held his friend closer to him.  
  
"All this family stuff, it stops now," James continued, "you're not going out and getting yourself killed for this stupid family secret. Look," he said, putting his hand softly onto Sirius' cheek, "if anything happened to you, I couldn't live with myself."  
  
But Sirius was getting over the shock of the demonic resurrection and his mind was gradually returning to the present. He was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable in his best friend's arms now.  
  
"Um," he said, freeing himself from James' brotherly grip, "I'd better go to sleep."  
  
James smiled, "of course, 'night."  
  
Thus Sirius fell into his bed with his aching bones, and felt that depression rising in his body again. He sat back up, and got his wand out from his bedside cabinet.  
  
Breathing heavily, Sirius conjured up a small scalpel and eyed it with shuddering breaths.  
  
Putting his wand back, he picked up the razor sharp scalpel in his right hand and pulled back the sleeve of his other arm, baring the pale flesh beneath.  
  
With one swift movement, he had cut a deep gash across his wrist with the scalpel, and Sirius closed his eyes as he felt the blood trickle down onto his covers. He let out more shuddering breaths, bearing with the pain, letting it relieve him of his heavy heart.  
  
He proceeded to cut another slash, on his right arm this time, and slowly felt his depression being alleviated.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Whoa, okay that was a bit darker than I had planned, but do tell me what you thought of it.  
  
I realise I'm such a bad BAD boy for making this such an unbearably long chapter, but the thing is, the bit with Andromeda and Sirius in the Library was meant to be part of 'The Instructions' but I decided that that wud make Chapter Five have too many events, so it became part of this chapter.  
  
Anyways enough rambling from me - remember the Golden Rule:  
  
THE AUTHOR KNOWN UNTO OTHERS AS ALEXEI SHALT NOT CONTINUE IN WRITING THIS HERE STORY UNLESS EVIDENCE IS GIVEN OF PPL READIN IT IN THE FORM OF REVIEWS!  
  
LOL sorry, but that's the way it has to be! Alexei Noire xXx :D  
  
p.s. Don't forget to REVIEW now!!  
  
p.p.s. If anyone has trouble visualising Lord Azazel, Bellatrix, Martyn, Rodolphus or some other characters - I have some pictures of them, so if you wanna see em, email me! 


	7. Maxilla's Wrath

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Seven: Maxilla's Wrath~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Christmas was fast approaching and the Hogwarts grounds were already thick with snow. The students would now resort to snowball fights in between classes, and carefully hide any extras to use in class. The next Quidditch match was a few months away, but still, the Gryffindor team was training like mad. James was particularly feeling the strain, but he also had his mind on Sirius, so he was somewhat preoccupied during training sessions.  
  
Sirius meanwhile, was dreading returning to the Black Room on Boxing Day - he didn't know how to tell Maxilla that he had destroyed Azazel and that he hadn't attained any new powers. He was sure that none of the other Blacks had succeeded in the tasks either, but felt that he had let down his lineage by failing - he'd tried so hard, and gotten so far but in the end it didn't even matter.  
  
The cuts on Sirius' wrists had been reduced to pale greyish scars which ran the length of his arm, like ghostly tributaries. He had made attempts to hide the scars by wearing a lot of long sleeved tops, and by holding onto the sleeves of his robes. The emptiness he had felt on Halloween hadn't quite gone, almost two months on, but it had certainly diminished, and Sirius was looking forward to getting on with his studies and was spending a lot more time alone in the Library with his nose in a book.  
  
McGonagall's strange behaviour had finally been explained, via strange and source-less rumours of course. Even though the tale had gone round so much and became even more elaborate with the telling, it all came down to the same intrinsic story - that she was going through THAT change, and thus she was getting more stressed than ever, and fidgety. In class, however it was a different story, for she taught Transfiguration with the same patience and standard as ever.  
  
The Saturday before Christmas came and Sirius was to be found, yet again in the Library, sitting solitarily at a table groaning under piles of thick books of every subject that he had taken. This study was not entirely futile, for now he was an expert in most of the topics that they would be tested on next year for their NEWTs, especially in Transfiguration. This led to quite an embarrassing ordeal for Sirius every lesson, though, as Professor McGonagall felt the need to bring Sirius to the front of every class and show how he could Transfigure perfectly.  
  
There was something that was biting at the back of Sirius' neck however - Bellatrix seemed to be spending a lot of time in the Library too. She was almost always there when Sirius went during lunchtimes and weekends, but Sirius wasn't stupid enough to even consider the notion that she was also studying hard for her NEWTs for she was very skilled in the hardest subjects. But Sirius realised he didn't care too much for what she was up to - however suspicious it was.  
  
Sat down at his usual table, looking through 'Study of Ancient Runes NEWT Level', Sirius noticed a figure before him.  
  
He looked up and saw that it was James' crush - Lily Evans.  
  
"Hey, d'you mind if I sit here?" she asked in her soft voice, and staring at him with her intensely emerald eyes.  
  
"Uh, no - course not, go ahead," he replied casually, moving some of the books aside for her.  
  
Lily sat down and muttered a small "Thanks," whilst removing a copy of 'Transfiguration NEWT Level' from her satchel.  
  
Sirius gave her a quick glance and then went back to reading up on the differences between Anglo Saxon runes and Nordic runes, all the while biting on his lip ring once more in concentration.  
  
After a few minutes, Lily broke the silence and said, "So, like is Ancient Runes a hard subject?"  
  
Sirius looked up, dazedly - he had almost forgotten she was even there.  
  
"Well," he answered, sighing exasperatedly, "It's not too bad once you get the hang of it - but it's a helluva lot easier than Transfiguration, I can tell you that."  
  
Lily smiled, "Easy for you to say, you're a whiz at Transfiguration. I mean McGonagall even chose you to demonstrate in class."  
  
"I wish she wouldn't," he said, looking back down at the book and reading once more, "I just want to get on with what we need to without making a spectacle of myself."  
  
Lily looked back down at her book, a weak smile fading from it.  
  
Sirius cleared his throat and got his wand out; he rolled his sleeves back and conjured up some small stones with Runes engraved into them.  
  
"Impressive," Lily said, looking down at his handiwork.  
  
"Yeah, but I have to do it quickly so that Madam Valerie doesn't go breathing down my neck for using magic in the Library. She barred my cousin about two months ago for talking too loudly."  
  
Sirius then busied himself in rearranging different Runes to make different incantations. Lily watched him with awe, then suddenly caught sight of his bare wrists.  
  
"What's that?" she asked shakily, pointing to his arm.  
  
Sirius hastily rolled his sleeve back up - how could he have been so stupid?  
  
"Nothing, forget about it," he replied in a threatening tone.  
  
Lily swept her red hair back with her right hand, and grabbed hold of Sirius' arm.  
  
"This isn't nothing!" she breathed, looking down at the deeply greyish lines.  
  
"Look," Sirius said to her angrily, shoving her hand off his, "It was an accident - not that it's any of your business anyway."  
  
Lily sighed furiously.  
  
"You call this an accident?" she whispered gravely, "trip, fall and land onto a knife did you?"  
  
Sirius was getting very annoyed now, how intrusive and nosey could a person get?  
  
"Tell me what happened," she pleaded in a softer voice, "Come on, it's okay."  
  
Sirius frowned at her, and sat back with his arms folded.  
  
"You want to know what happened? You REALLY want to know, Evans?"  
  
"Yes," she said, "Yes I do."  
  
Sirius buried his face in his hands and heaved a sigh.  
  
"I... cut myself," he said in a harsh whisper, as if not daring to admit it to himself, "I was depressed - so I... cut long gashes the length of my arm and let it bleed."  
  
Lily was speechless, she simply stared at him, without breathing as if she'd turned to stone.  
  
"Good enough for ya?" he asked bitterly, "Gonna go tell everyone you know that I'm a freak? Go on! Run through the corridors yelling 'SIRIUS IS A FREAK! SIRIUS IS A FREAK!'"  
  
"Be quiet over there!" Madam Valerie called from his left.  
  
"Do me a favour, Evans," Sirius said in a deadly whisper, nearing her, "Tell that blonde friend of yours about this, then maybe, just maybe she'll go off me and leave me alone."  
  
Lily didn't reply, she simply looked down at her hands and gulped.  
  
"Sirius," she breathed, "Why didn't you say?"  
  
She got up off her chair and went over to Sirius, embracing him in a tight hug.  
  
What the hell is she doing? Sirius thought, she should be looking repulsed and walking away puking.  
  
"Look - tell me everything that's troubling you," she said, facing him and gazing into his handsome face.  
  
Sirius simply looked back at her and said, "Why? Why do you want to help me?"  
  
Lily stood back up and smiled seriously, "Because I want us to be friends, Sirius."  
  
He stared up to the pretty girl with long red hair and sat flummoxed.  
  
"Not just a pretty face then are ya?" he said.  
  
Lily giggled, "I could say the same for you."  
  
Sirius actually laughed at this, and with Lily sat opposite him, he explained how he was having these feeling but how he couldn't explain WHY they were there. About how he had disgusted himself by acting like such an idiot with his friends and also about how useless he felt, and the gratitude he felt towards James for saving him. He was very careful not to let any secret facts such as the Black Challenge or about Remus being a werewolf.  
  
And after spilling out his heart to the skinny redhead, Sirius felt an enormous weight lifted off his shoulders - and it was a most wonderful feeling because someone else now knew about this. The thing that made Sirius a lot happier was also the fact that Lily didn't flinch or retch at any of the news he revealed to her.  
  
After he had finished, she smiled and put a slender fingered hand on Sirius'. He looked down at it and grinned back.  
  
She then began to tell him how none of this was his fault, that he should let his mistakes wash over him like music. She explained how he was lucky to have such understanding and caring friends, and that no matter how much he tried to block out his problems, he'd have to face them and then overcome them somehow.  
  
"Thanks," Sirius said, when she was finished talking, "For listening, for understanding and for - well virtually solving my problems for me!"  
  
"No problem," she replied, taking her hand off his, "It's lunchtime now, why don't we walk down together?"  
  
Sirius smiled and nodded, gathering up his books and putting them back into his bag.  
  
From the corner of his eye, Sirius saw Bellatrix looking scornfully back at him - she knew Lily was Muggle-Born, and was disgusted at Sirius for even walking with someone like that.  
  
"She your cousin?" Lily asked, noticing where Sirius was looking.  
  
"Yeah," he replied, "We're not exactly the best of friends though."  
  
She laughed shortly and they proceeded down the marble staircase and into the Great Hall.  
  
At the Gryffindor Table, James and Remus were already sat, and looked surprised to see Sirius walking in with a huge grin on his face accompanied by Lily Evans.  
  
"Hi guys," Sirius said, looking down at the two, "it okay if Lily joins us? - it's just that her mates won't be coming down for lunch."  
  
James nodded and said, "Sure," in a peculiarly subdued voice.  
  
Lily sat down next to Sirius, who was opposite to James and Remus.  
  
"So I hear you turned down being a Prefect," Remus said to Lily from across the table, as she began helping herself to peas and carrots.  
  
"Yeah, I did," she replied, "I found the strain too much - and anyway, who am I to tell other students what to do. No one would ever take ME seriously, they'd need someone with a bit of a fear factor, an intimidating person, not little old me."  
  
"Hah," Sirius laughed, "that's why our Bell's a prefect!"  
  
The other three laughed at this.  
  
"Hmm, she seems to dismiss her own house from punishments though," Remus said, munching through steak.  
  
"Well I would too, if I was a Prefect," James said, avoiding Lily's gaze.  
  
"Oh really Mr Potter?" Lily asked challengingly, "And what if you caught someone in Gryffindor performing the Cruciatus Curse upon someone else?"  
  
"Well," James responded, ruffling his hair up a bit, "in THAT case, then yes. But come on, Evans - that's about as likely as Wormtail tap-dancing with trolls on the Galapagos Islands during a blizzard."  
  
"Who's Wormtail?" she asked, puzzled.  
  
"Me," said a small voice, and the four Gryffindors turned to see Peter standing behind Sirius and sitting down next to him.  
  
"Well, hello Wormtail," Lily said, smiling down at him, "I'm Lily."  
  
"I know who you are," he answered, not looking at her, "and my name is Peter, Wormtail's just me nickname."  
  
"Ah," Lily said gingerly.  
  
"Anyway," Sirius said, "Where are your mates anyway? Aren't they hungry or something?"  
  
Lily sighed, "Well it's like this - they don't EAT lunch. They think it'd ruin their figure so they miss it out every other day. It's absolutely preposterous of course."  
  
"Our Narcissa does that," Sirius told her, "Except she does attend the mealtimes, but she pushes the food around the plate to make it look like she's eating it."  
  
The five kept talking all the way through lunch, with Remus informing Lily how much she missed out by turning down becoming a Prefect, Sirius telling the occasional joke and James making attempts to impress Lily.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Boxing Day came with a boom.  
  
"What the hell was THAT?" Peter asked, looking to Sirius' bed, from whence a shrill, irksome cawing was coming from.  
  
Sirius quickly sat upright and saw that there was a large raven cawing on the foot of his bed. On its leg was tied a message, like the one that he had received in September, it was in a jet-black envelope, with the words 'Toujours Pur' inscribed upon it in intricate, fancy writing.  
  
"You okay, mate?" James asked, tearing apart Sirius' bed curtains.  
  
"Yeah, I just have some mail," Sirius told him groggily.  
  
James sighed and sat down on the end of Sirius' bed.  
  
Sirius reached over to the raven and took the envelope.  
  
"Sirius," James said in a voice full of warning, as the raven flew out the window, "remember what we said about the family stuff?"  
  
"Yes," he replied, "But I still want to see what it says."  
  
James sat still on Sirius's bed.  
  
Sirius looked up at him, "Could I please have some privacy?" he asked.  
  
James heaved a sigh, but nevertheless he got up off his friend's bed and went back to his.  
  
As soon as James shut the curtains behind him, Sirius tore open the envelope, and read the message in a faint whisper:  
  
"Dear Fellow Black,  
  
This follow-up letter is to make you aware of the second meeting that you and your other family members must have tonight.  
  
The Black member who has access to the Black Room has been alerted of this also and it is mandatory that he/she is present there tonight.  
  
You will be appraised tonight on how well you handled your tasks and congratulated if you received your powers.  
  
Adieu,  
  
Your Aunt Elladora."  
  
"That bitch," Sirius breathed, setting fire to the letter with his wand and then placing it in a stone bowl on his bedside cabinet to burn.  
  
Sirius got up and got dressed, then made his way down to breakfast with Remus. Lily waved to them as they passed her in the Common Room.  
  
As Sirius entered the Great Hall, Andromeda came running up to him, closely followed by Dominique.  
  
"Hey Sirius," she said merrily.  
  
"Hia," he replied, smiling up at her.  
  
"You all set for tonight?" she asked.  
  
Sirius stared at her, Remus and Dominique were standing right there - surely she didn't want to give it away?  
  
"Umm, to-tonight?" Sirius asked nervously.  
  
Andromeda smiled, "Yeah, 'cos guess what? We all failed!"  
  
Sirius didn't answer, he just grabbed Remus' arm and dragged him over to the Gryffindor table.  
  
"What was that all about?" Remus asked.  
  
"I dunno what you're talking about, Ray," Sirius replied, without looking at him.  
  
"Well," Remus continued, "I was talking about that very cryptic conversation you and your cousin just had."  
  
"Pass the toast, Moony - I'm famished," Sirius said without any hint that he had paid any attention to Remus' question.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"I am VERY disappointed in you," Maxilla said angrily to the Blacks, who were back in age order, "NONE OF YOU HAVE ANY NEW POWERS! Are you or are you not my descendants?"  
  
No one spoke - Bellatrix was staring at the ground from beside Sirius, Narcissa was biting her nails and Andromeda looked as if she couldn't care less.  
  
Maxilla sat back down and in a calmer voice said, "I am, however, quite pleased... and somewhat surprised to see that both Sirius and Andromeda have succeeded in bringing forth Lord Azazel. I hope you two," he indicated Bellatrix and Narcissa, "are ashamed that the only Blacks to complete their tasks weren't even in Slytherin!"  
  
"The little Mudblood cursed me!" Bellatrix screamed at Maxilla.  
  
"I didn't know what the clue meant!" Narcissa yelled, "Who the hell is Azazel? And how on earth was I supposed to RAISE him?"  
  
"SILENCE!" Maxilla roared, "Your sister and cousin understood the instructions perfectly! They succeeded in raising Azazel."  
  
Bellatrix scowled at Sirius, and Sirius scowled back - it was hard to tell who hated who the most.  
  
"Because of your incompetence," Maxilla continued, "I shall place upon you two a curse. For an entire week, you shall be subject to scorn and derision from any person who crosses you, and there is NOTHING you can do about it."  
  
"Oh come on!" Sirius shouted, "That's hardly fair - all they did was fail some stupid task!"  
  
Maxilla glared at Sirius then whispered, "And why is it any of YOUR concern, Sirius? You and your harebrained cousin succeeded."  
  
"Umm, not exactly," Andromeda piped, "We DID raise Azazel, but he tried to kill us. Err, in fact Sirius killed him. But does this mean YOU'RE going to give us the powers?"  
  
Maxilla paused and sat transfixed at Andromeda, and then he began to laugh, a cold, cruel, derisive laugh that, with a crescendo, echoed off the damp stone walls of the Black Room.  
  
"Dear girl, I am not the one who issues you with the powers!" he bellowed at Andromeda, with a slight air of ridicule in his voice, "No! I am just the one who explains the rules and tasks! Lord Azazel will issue you your powers when he wants to."  
  
Sirius looked worriedly at Andromeda and then to Maxilla.  
  
"B-But I think I did kill him," Sirius said, "I-I read verses from the Koran, and he burst into flame."  
  
Maxilla stood up suddenly, "You did WHAT?"  
  
"Does this mean we'll never get our powers now?" Andromeda asked.  
  
"Well," Maxilla said in an unusually soft voice, "I don't think you could have possible killed him - just because he burst into flame doesn't mean he DIED. Demons aren't like you or I, Andromeda - they combust when frightened. No, it's more likely he's skulking around somewhere in the grounds at this very minute, but he will come to you when he wishes."  
  
"How will he know where we are?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Lord Azazel knows the whereabouts of whoever was present at his invocation, he knows right now where you are in fact. But he will not come to you until he's ready - and even then he may deny you the powers because you frightened him -."  
  
"HE TRIED TO KILL US!" Andromeda yelled.  
  
"ENOUGH!" Maxilla roared, "Now it is time for you all to leave - Bellatrix, Narcissa your curse will start as of tomorrow. Now, it is time for me to test the true capabilities of you four by seeing you escape Tripp Cava and his brothers."  
  
The Blacks all looked at one another, utterly bemused.  
  
"Who?" Narcissa asked insolently.  
  
The answer came in the form of the skeleton which was always perched on top of the bookcase climbing down off it.  
  
"Narcissa, Bellatrix, Sirius, Andromeda - one last task," Maxilla whispered, as the skeleton withdrew the dagger from under its bowler hat, "Fight your way out of here, alive."  
  
"WHAT?" Bellatrix yelled.  
  
The skeleton began edging slowly toward them, and to the Blacks' utter horror, the dagger stretched 'til it resembled a long sabre.  
  
"This is Tripp Cava," Maxilla informed, "and these are his brothers..."  
  
There was a slight tremor, and without warning, a thin, skeletal fist burst out of the wooden floorboard in front of them. Narcissa screamed, as another one appeared.  
  
"Get your wands out!" Sirius cried.  
  
Sirius wasn't sure what on earth was going on, but he hadn't time to dwell on such trivial ponderings - it seemed they had to fight these skeletons.  
  
Tripp suddenly charged at Bellatrix, and aimed a deadly swipe at her with his sword. But it got worse - the two skeletal fists had been followed by two more deadly, ragged clothed skeletons who also had swords.  
  
Sirius wasn't sure magic would work on these brutes - but what else COULD he do?  
  
Maxilla was watching them comfortably from his throne, as if this was some sort of a sporting event.  
  
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Andromeda yelled at one of the skeletons who made for her. Its sword flew out of its hand and landed near the exit to the Black Room.  
  
The other skeleton ran towards Sirius, and began swiping its sabre through the air on its way. Sirius was aghast and didn't move. The skeleton was nearing; it raised its sabre high above its head to slash Sirius' chest open -  
  
"DISCERPO MAXIMUS!" A voice roared from behind, causing the skeleton to crack open in various places on its body and keel over backwards.  
  
Sirius looked up to see Narcissa standing there with her wand poised.  
  
The two Blacks looked glanced at each other momentarily, then split up to help the other two.  
  
Sirius ran to Andromeda who was being strangled by the unarmed skeleton.  
  
He ran forwards and bellowed, "CONGELO STO!" and the skeleton froze solid.  
  
Andromeda was gagging beneath the skeleton's spindly fingers, which still held her in a fatal throttle.  
  
Sirius went over to her and tried to wrench the fingers apart, but they wouldn't come undone. He yanked and pulled, but to no avail.  
  
Bellatrix suddenly came running towards them, with Narcissa close behind - the skeleton who was after Bellatrix was now a smashed up mound of splintered bone.  
  
"Oh cripes!" Narcissa shrieked, looking down at her entrapped sister - it seemed that no matter how much she didn't show her affection for her sister, she still loved her deep down.  
  
"What the hell were you playing at?" Bellatrix snarled at him, "Freezing Charm, while she was being asphyxiated?"  
  
"He would have killed her!" Sirius yelled.  
  
Narcissa quickly ran forward and crouched down on the other side of Andromeda, pulling her wand out, she muttered, "Evanesco."  
  
The skeleton's arms disappeared, and Andromeda pushed the frozen skeleton off her.  
  
"Thanks!" she said, hugging Narcissa.  
  
"Come on, let's get out of here!" Sirius cried, hoisting Andromeda up off the floor.  
  
The four Blacks began to sprint towards the exit, when unexpectedly, a fourth skeleton appeared - this time considerably larger than the others, with glowing red dots for eyes and an enormous club held snugly between its spidery fingers.  
  
It stood blocking the way out completely, and proceeded to walk with heavy plodding footsteps that shook the filthy floorboards.  
  
"Holy CRAP!" Narcissa whimpered.  
  
Bellatrix and Sirius got their wands out and held them pointing up at the giant.  
  
"On the count of three," Bellatrix said in a calm voice, "I want you three to run and I'll deal with this git."  
  
"NO!" Narcissa moaned.  
  
"Do it!" Bellatrix commanded, and looked round at her cousin and sisters, the skeleton was very close now, and Sirius had no idea how on earth Bellatrix was going to handle him alone.  
  
Andromeda and Narcissa gathered to the left side of the Black Room, but the giant skeleton began to walk towards them now.  
  
With an almighty blow, the club bashed five feet away from where Narcissa and Andromeda were. The two sisters scurried away towards the exit, and the giant made after them.  
  
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Bellatrix screamed from behind the brute - the spell had no effect whatsoever and bounced off his bones, but it turned around to face Bellatrix and Sirius anyway, as it felt a spell hit it from behind.  
  
Andromeda and Narcissa frantically opened the door and ran out, whimpering.  
  
"You idiot," Bellatrix snarled from beside him, "You should have left when I told you to."  
  
Sirius glared at her, "Just shut up for once, bitch."  
  
Bellatrix didn't react, she just aimed a Detachment Curse at the skeleton's great arm, but to no avail.  
  
"Damn it!" she cried furiously and ran to the other end of the room, as it smashed its club down where had been.  
  
Sirius ran to the right, while it began to yank its club from the floorboards.  
  
"LACERO PLENUS!" he roared, but the spell ricocheted off the giant yet again.  
  
Sirius ran to the end of the room, a few yards away from where Bellatrix stood. Maxilla's throne had gone back to the large black crystal ball.  
  
"Keep running around," she breathed, "maybe we can confuse it."  
  
Sirius nodded and ran forwards towards the brute, which plodded towards him formidably. Bellatrix then ran from the other end of the room, aimed a jet of flame at the beast.  
  
Its bones became slightly charred, but with no lasting damage. It now moved toward Bellatrix, and she was running out of deadly curses to try.  
  
Sirius watched in apprehension as the brute moved slowly toward her - he looked ahead, and the exit was clear, he could make a run for it!  
  
Suddenly, Sirius heard Bellatrix's voice from the midst of the Black Room yell the word, "CRUCIO!" a blinding flash of light flew of her wand and hit the giant skeleton's left shoulder. Upon hearing the incantation, Sirius' blood turned to ice, as he watched the giant's left arm break off.  
  
Sirius was now scared, not only of the giant skeleton, but also of his cousin - she could perform an Unforgivable Curse.  
  
The beast watched its arm bash as it hit the ground, then turned its sharp red gaze back to Bellatrix - it seemed to have a new found wrath burning inside it now, and with a frightening jump, it began to run after Bellatrix, causing huge tremors in the room.  
  
Sirius watched in terror as his cousin froze in fear, and only just missed a blow from the giant skeleton's club in front of it.  
  
Bellatrix fell to the floor and curled into a torpor, awaiting the impact of the giant's next blow - but it didn't come.  
  
She gingerly opened her eyes and saw with utter bewilderment the sight that played before her - Sirius was bashing a huge grey mace madly into the giant's legs and ribs. Bellatrix had never seen her cousin fight this frantically, and just stared in amazement.  
  
"RUN!" he shouted to her, without looking back, "RUN FOR IT WHILE YOU CAN!"  
  
Bellatrix got up off her feet, and sprinted down to the door as fast as she could, but on opening the door she heard a howl that reverberated off the walls.  
  
She looked back and saw Sirius on the floor, with his leg bleeding - his leg was broken.  
  
Without thinking at all, she ran back and, pointed her wand at the chandelier overhead that still had a swinging skeleton on it.  
  
In a flurry of feathers, all the candles suddenly became a flock of Augureys. She pointed her wand at the skeleton too, and Transfigured it into a Phoenix.  
  
Another yell from the opposite end of the room indicated a second attack on Sirius by the giant.  
  
Bellatrix then, staring up at the chattering birds, muttered, "Imperio!" And the birds began to fly towards the giant like a huge green cloud with a large reddish hint of the Phoenix.  
  
"ATTACK!" she commanded, and the Augureys all began pecking and clawing at the skeleton like mad. The Phoenix beheaded the brute with one sweep of its wing. The skull landed with a thump a few feet from Sirius.  
  
The rest of the carcass was successfully being dismembered by the rush of mad Augureys.  
  
Bellatrix ran over to where her cousin lay and hoisted him up.  
  
"You didn't have to do that," Sirius said, grimacing at the pain in his leg.  
  
Bellatrix put her cousin's arm over her and looked back at him with her pretty face, without expression.  
  
"Oh come on, you were helpless without me," she said, wheezing a bit under her tall cousin's weight.  
  
Bellatrix walked out slowly, with her cousin resting on her and they exited the Black Room, vowing never to return - and also making a mental note to murder Aunt Elladora in her sleep.  
  
"How's your leg?" Bellatrix asked, conjuring up a stool for him to sit on, once they were outside the room.  
  
"I think it's broken," he replied shutting his eyes in pain, "How the hell am I gonna get back to Gryffindor Tower like this, eh?"  
  
Bellatrix sighed, and conjured up a long splint. She put it against her cousin's leg, and tearing off pieces of her robes, she tied it up.  
  
Sirius looked down, at his cousin whom he had hated for as long he could remember. She was now sat on the floor bandaging up his knee.  
  
"You know, that was some pretty impressive magic you did back there," he said.  
  
She merely smiled and rolled his trouser leg back down.  
  
"I think you should go to the Hospital Wing," she said softly, "You'd better - or I'll curse you!"  
  
Sirius laughed, but then remember the Cruciatus Curse she had performed and stopped abruptly.  
  
"Well, I'll be off then," Bellatrix said finally.  
  
"Yeah," Sirius responded, and he conjured up a crutch to help him walk to the Hospital Wing.  
  
"See ya."  
  
"Bye."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Oh Ho Ho Ho Ho!  
  
Ickle Bellatwix is showing a softer side!!  
  
Any ideas about what'll happen next? No?  
  
There's some clues in Chapters 3, 5 and 6 as to what happens in the end - see if u can spot them! This chapter also contains some more subtle clues too.  
  
And do you know what I want you to do? DO YOU? no??  
  
Shalt I remind thee? Okay, it's pretty simple -  
  
READ & REVIEW! READ & REVIEW! READ & REVIEW! READ & REVIEW!  
  
Need I say any more? If I don't get a sufficient amount, then the entire story will be shut down. I don't mean to be so callous, but I need evidence that ppl are reading this.  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D (I'm a lil ray of sunshine!) 


	8. James' Fear

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Eight : James' Fear~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"And it's ten-zero to Ravenclaw!" Lestrange cried.  
  
It was the Quidditch Semi Finals between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor and twenty minutes in, Ravenclaw had already scored. Rodolphus Lestrange had been chosen to commentate and was relishing in Gryffindor's loss so early in the game.  
  
"Now it's Gryffindor in possession, and OUCH!" a bludger had just pelted out of nowhere and knocked the Quaffle out of the Chaser's arm, all the while making a sickening crunch as it broke her bones.  
  
"And she's being taken off to be replaced by a sub, and who do we have here?" Lestrange said with a hint of derision in his voice. People from the stands looked down and saw a minute figure in scarlet Quidditch robes mounting a broom and kicking off.  
  
Lestrange laughed loudly, "It seems that we have a TINY change in the Gryffindor line up."  
  
Some stood up to get a good look at what on earth Lestrange was going on about.  
  
"Oh my God," Lily cried from beside Sirius, "It's that kid!"  
  
Sirius grabbed her binoculars and saw that the replacement Chaser was none other than little Martyn Mitochondria. With his bright blonde hair, and small size it seemed he wouldn't last more than a few minutes in the game.  
  
"We resume play," Lestrange boomed, "Ravenclaw in possession, the Chaser's gone past the hurl of Bludgers at him and... HE SCORES! TWENTY ZERO TO RAVENCLAW!"  
  
There were enormous cheers coming from the Ravenclaw end, where a mass of blue rose high in the air.  
  
"There's Jay," Sirius told Lily, pointing up at a scarlet figure high in the sky hovering above the Ravenclaw goals.  
  
Lily grabbed her binoculars back and giggled.  
  
"What is it?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Oh nothing," she laughed, "It's just he looks pretty cute up there, with his hair windswept and his face all angry and determined."  
  
Sirius gave a weak laugh, and sat back down next to her to watch the game.  
  
"I wonder where Ray and Pete are," Sirius muttered, watching yet another goal by Ravenclaw.  
  
"They won't have forgotten?" Lily asked, without taking her eyes off the game.  
  
"I certainly hope not, we've been cheering Jay on since we were ickle nippers!"  
  
Lily laughed, and staring through her binoculars said, "Well, looks like your mate is coming into good use after all."  
  
Sirius grabbed her binoculars off her, dragging her into him.  
  
Martyn had possession of the Quaffle, and his tiny size came in very handy, as he slipped through a scrum of attacking Chasers. He swerved with marvellous precision as a Bludger came pelting his way, he dove straight down and came back up to evade yet another Chaser. He was at the goal, he was almost there...  
  
"SAVED!" Lestrange cried, "SAVED BY THE RAVENCLAW KEEPER! So the score remains -."  
  
Lestrange froze, Martyn had caught the Quaffle as soon as the Keeper had thrown it off course, and was making his way back to the goals.  
  
"And so, Mitochondria in possession of the Quaffle," Lestrange continued, "And he's almost there, and I don't believe it - HE SCORES!"  
  
There was an eruption of cheers from the Gryffindor end, and Lily and Sirius could barely hear each other cheer as they hugged, jumping up and down all the while.  
  
"Ravenclaw back in possession, and Chaser Horatio Murkus is nearing the goals... and it's SAVED!" Lestrange called through the loudspeaker.  
  
"What's this?" Lestrange asked curiously, looking to the middle of the pitch, "It seems the Gryffindor Seeker has spotted the Snitch!"  
  
People stood up again in the stands to get a better look at the streak of scarlet darting towards the Gryffindor goalposts. The Ravenclaw Seeker, Adrianna Bell, had also seen it and was making her way quickly towards where James was looking - but she could not see the Snitch herself.  
  
"You don't think he's feinting do you?" Sirius asked Lily, who was gripping her face with white knuckles.  
  
"Even if I knew what you were talking about, I wouldn't know," she replied, now taking hold of Sirius' hand and crunching the bones horribly in anxiety, "I'm Muggle Born, remember."  
  
James was nearing the edge of the goalposts, and it seemed he was about to hit the posts if he didn't swerve away in time. He leant forward and closed his hand around the tiny snitch, crushing its silver wings inside his fist.  
  
"And Gryffindor win one hundred and fifty points! Gryffindor win!" Lestrange boomed, even he seemed amazed at James' capture.  
  
The Gryffindor stands emptied quickly and people began to rush madly over to the pitch to meet the players.  
  
Sirius and Lily stayed behind - they decided they'd talk to James in the safety of the Gryffindor Common Room. Behind them, a sly voice came.  
  
"Cosy little couple aren't you?"  
  
Sirius and Lily spun round and saw Severus Snape sat with his hands in his lap, a wicked grin across his face.  
  
"What d'you want, Snivellus?" Sirius growled, getting up off his seat and making his way towards Snape.  
  
"I was just admiring the way you and Evans here look like Romeo and Juliet," he replied, unflinching.  
  
"Why you little!" Sirius began to charge forwards but Lily caught him by his muscular shoulders and pulled him back.  
  
"Leave it, Si," she muttered, "It's not worth it."  
  
Sirius glared menacingly at Snape, who looked as if Christmas had come early.  
  
On their way to the Common Room, Sirius continued to talk angrily about Snape.  
  
"He's just SUCH a little squirt!" he cried, "The way he thinks he's so much better than everyone because he knows so many curses."  
  
Lily was looking away, distraught and annoyed. Sirius noticed this, and abruptly stopped ranting.  
  
"You QUITE finished?" she asked in an irked tone.  
  
Sirius nodded gravely, "Sorry, Lil, but you know I can't control my temper sometimes."  
  
"Well you'd better learn to in the future or I'll castrate you where you stand!" she said threateningly.  
  
"I-I...wha.?" Sirius gagged.  
  
"I'm only messing!" she laughed, a huge smile forming on her pretty face, "Come on!"  
  
She grabbed hold on Sirius' hand and ran with him to the Portrait of the Fat Lady.  
  
"Password?" she asked, looking as if she had nothing better to do than guard a secret entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room.  
  
"Cumulonimbus," Lily said, and the picture swung forward to admit them.  
  
As soon as Lily and Sirius walked in, there was a rush of sound greeting them. Martyn was sat in a soft leather armchair by the fire, with whole host of new admirers, many female - he did look pretty sweet sat there in his Quidditch Robes and a huge grin on his face.  
  
Sirius noticed he had a lot of lipstick marked kisses upon his cheeks, and even one on his lips. He also noticed that he was still holding Lily's hand, and abruptly let go, after giving her an embarrassed smile.  
  
"Hey!" Sirius cried, walking over to Martyn, "Well done, kid!"  
  
He bent down and shook little Martyn's hand.  
  
"Thanks, Padfoot," he said in a small voice.  
  
Sirius stared - how had he known he was called that? His other acquaintances apart from his Gryffindor lads never called him that. But then again, Lily HAD called him Padfoot last week on Valentine's Day.  
  
Smiling, Sirius got back up and made his way over to Remus, who was yelling at a few Third Year girls for doing handstands on the chairs. Lily had sat down with her own group of girls and was looking at her nails, bored.  
  
"Hey Moony," Sirius said, coming over to his friend, "You know where Prongs has got to?"  
  
"TEN POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!" Remus roared, causing the entire Common Room to go deadly silent.  
  
All eyes were on him, and not a person spoke.  
  
"Th-That's what I'd be saying to you next time!" he yelled back at the girls who were doing handstands.  
  
The chatter immediately picked up again, and a few people laughed.  
  
"Damn girls," Remus muttered, "Padfoot! Umm, James went up early - he was knackered... I'm warning you!"  
  
Remus walked back over to the girls and began to scold them angrily.  
  
Sirius sighed, and with a final wave to Martyn, who was getting a whole attack of kisses yet again, made his way up to the boy's dormitory.  
  
He pushed open the door which had upon it written 'Sixth Years' and gasped at the sight that met him.  
  
James was sobbing, with his back to the door; he was upon his bed and still in his Quidditch robes.  
  
"Jay?" Sirius asked tentatively.  
  
James spun round, and quickly wiped the tears away - his eyes were swollen red and his entire face glowed scarlet.  
  
"How...COULD you?" he asked with suppressed anger.  
  
Sirius walked closer to his friend, who had gotten up off the bed and was shaking with rage.  
  
"Prongs, what?" Sirius asked, utterly bemused.  
  
James snarled angrily, and pointed a shaking finger at Sirius, "How could you, eh? I thought you were my best friend?"  
  
"Jay, if you tell me what I'm meant to have done, it would help a great deal," Sirius said in a calm voice.  
  
James sat down on Sirius' bed with a thump.  
  
"Wormtail told me, you know," he continued, "Told me all about it, he did."  
  
Sirius made his way to where James sat and kneeled down before him.  
  
"WHAT, did Wormtail tell you, Prongs?" he enquired.  
  
James made peculiar noise that sounded a lot like a cross between a wheeze and a whimper.  
  
"Wormtail," he went on, "Saw you...and Lily Evan kissing in the Library."  
  
Sirius froze - his heart did the Tango beneath his ribs. He was sure this had never happened; of course he'd been hanging out with her a lot but he couldn't seriously remember KISSING her.  
  
James looked down at Sirius with livid bloodshot eyes.  
  
"I didn't kiss her, James," Sirius said without looking up at his friend, "I didn't."  
  
James made that unusual sound again, that sounded clearly like a scoff now.  
  
"Don't try and lie your way out of this one, Black!" he croaked, "You've been caught! And don't think I didn't see you two holding hands at the match earlier."  
  
"Jay, I DID... NOT...kiss Lily Evans," Sirius repeated firmly.  
  
"You know I wish you could face up to the truth once in a while, Sirius because you suck at lying."  
  
Sirius had had enough; he stood up and shook James hard by the shoulders.  
  
"If you're ready to believe the second hand misinterpretation of a part time RAT, rather than your best friend - then I'm telling you now, it's over between us."  
  
James sat frozen - he wasn't expecting THIS.  
  
"How long have you known me, Prongs, how long?"  
  
"Years," he replied croakily.  
  
"Yeah, you have," he continued, "And we've always told each other secrets right? And trusted each other, and gotten through years of school together - are you going to throw that all away because of something that Pete says he thinks he saw? I'm telling you I did NOT kiss Evans."  
  
James choked on his own phlegm, and paused, looking up at his friend. Slowly, he got to his feet and stared straight into Sirius' eyes.  
  
"Sorry, mate," he croaked, putting his arms around him and embracing him in a tight hug, "It's just I'm afraid I'll end up all alone an-and, I was so scared you'd stolen Lily off me. I'm so sorry for taking his word over yours Padfoot, but you know how I get."  
  
"Yeah," Sirius laughed, putting his fingers through James' messy black hair.  
  
James detached himself from Sirius' arms and stared back at his friend, he grinned fondly.  
  
What was he doing accusing Sirius of stealing his crush, he thought.  
  
The boys stood for a few seconds staring at each other, smiling at the absurdity of the whole situation, when James slipped his arms back round Sirius' waist and drew him closer.  
  
Sirius leant in, wondering if this was yet another rare hug, but James just continued to stare at him with his hazel eyes, and before either of the boys knew what happened, their lips met in a passionate kiss.  
  
Their tongues began snaking in and out of one another's mouth, and they both held one another closer.  
  
James fell back onto Sirius' bed behind him, with his friend still kissing him from above.  
  
The boys finally detached themselves from the other's lips, and stared at each other. James smiled, and put a hand to Sirius' cheek affectionately.  
  
Sirius stared down at his best friend whom he was lying on top of, and like a hammer to his skull, the frightening truth hit him.  
  
His blood turned to ice; his heart sank deeper than the Titanic and upon his hands cold sweat formed.  
  
Sirius got up off James and began to back away slowly to the door - his eyes wide in horror. What the hell was going on? Did he just kiss his best friend on the lips?  
  
He had seldom time to think, and ran out of the dormitory and into the Common Room.  
  
"Hey Sirius, you back?" Lily asked, smiling at him.  
  
Sirius just gave her an expressionless glance and ran out of the Portrait hole. He skulked around the school, careful not to run into Pringle, plus he was without any form of forewarning of the Marauder's Map or of any concealment of the Invisibility Cloak.  
  
He pushed open the oaken front doors and ran outside, quickly changing into a dog.  
  
Padfoot scampered into the woods, and ran deep inside. He wasn't sure where he was going, but it was a relief not to be thinking so many of Sirius' human thoughts.  
  
When the night sky was barely visible overhead, and the undergrowth became thick, Padfoot stopped.  
  
He sat down and panted. Although he could still remember what had just happened, it was more of a distant memory now that he was Padfoot.  
  
Padfoot stayed in the Forest for a good few hours, and eventually fell asleep.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Now, I want to make it clear that I AM NOT WRITING SLASH. This incident between James and Sirius was due to hormones, not homosexual urges. Okay?  
  
If you have any suggestions or queries about this story, feel free to email me.  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D 


	9. The Powers Bequeathed

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Nine: The Powers Bequeathed~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Your Solemnity Potion should now be a dull greyish colour," Professor Darnley told the class, "if it's still khaki, then you've added too much Belladonna, in which case balance out the acid with the alkali by adding a few soap chips."  
  
Sirius stood next to Remus, their cauldron simmering with a frothy grey mixture bubbling inside. Behind them, James and Peter were working on their own Solemnity Potion - but Sirius had not turned around once during the entire lesson.  
  
"Sir, Sir!" Bellatrix called, "Could you check mine and Trouvesamort's Potion, sir?"  
  
Professor Darnley made his way over to Bellatrix and her friend, Trouvesamort Envie, who was a spindly, horse-faced blonde who constantly talked about death.  
  
"Not enough beech leaves, I'm afraid girls," Professor Darnley told them. His top hat was a bleach white colour today, and it seemed to cause a lot of optical illusions around the school.  
  
"Professor!" Remus cried, his hand waving in the air frantically, "I think ours is done!"  
  
Professor Darnley walked over to Sirius and Remus' table and looked down at their cauldron, and a smile flickered across his face.  
  
"Well done!" he cried, delightedly, "Even I couldn't have done this well at your age!"  
  
And he left them to go check on Lestrange and Snape's Potion.  
  
"WHAT is up with you?" Remus asked Sirius, who was sat on a stool with his arms folded and a sour expression on his face.  
  
Sirius didn't answer; he continued scowling at the wall.  
  
"You've been off all day, now come on, tell your old Moony what's up," Remus said with a cheeky grin spread across his face.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about Ray," he said without adjusting the intensity of his scowl.  
  
"And I noticed something else," Remus continued, "You don't seem to have spoken to James at all since today - it's almost as if you're AVOIDING him."  
  
"LOOK!" Sirius bellowed at Remus, making everyone in the class stop and stare in his direction, "IF I WANTED A PSYCHOANALYSIS FROM YOU, I WOULD HAVE JOLLY WELL ASKED FOR ONE!"  
  
And with a devilish glare on his handsome features, Sirius slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the class without another word.  
  
"But wait!" Professor Darnley cried after him, "You got an 'A' for your potion!"  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"Please tell me what's up, Si," Lily said to him, "Something's obviously bothering you."  
  
They were sat in the Gryffindor Common and the pale March sunlight streamed in to greet them.  
  
"It's... private," he muttered apprehensively.  
  
Lily sighed and sat down on the arm of the chair in which he was seated. She leant forwards and gave him a warm hug.  
  
"Now come on, Padfoot," she whispered in a sweet voice, "Won't you open up to lil Lily?"  
  
"I can't tell you, Lil," he said firmly, "It's ...boy's stuff."  
  
"Oh come ON!" she scoffed, "Surely you don't think I could be shocked by anything?"  
  
"Believe me," he said, getting up off the chair, "you'd faint."  
  
"Well where are you off to?" she asked, as he turned on his heel and strode up the staircase to the boy's dorm.  
  
He just waved his hand back at her carelessly in reply.  
  
Up in the dormitory, Sirius ran straight into James.  
  
"Ouch!" James cried, "Watch where you're walking will ya?"  
  
Sirius glared at him, and fixed it on his most deathly scowl.  
  
James was wearing his Quidditch robes and was about to make his way downstairs. He stared momentarily at Sirius, and Sirius could only wonder what was going through his mind at that point.  
  
After a few minutes, James finally strode off down the staircase.  
  
Sirius sighed, and fell onto his bed.  
  
"James can't be gay," he said out loud, "He just CAN'T be."  
  
From somewhere in the room, Sirius heard a snorting sound, it was a deep throaty snort that seemed to be coming from somewhere in the dorm room.  
  
Sirius sat upright.  
  
"Who is it?" he asked.  
  
Silence.  
  
Sirius got up off his bed and walked around the room, looking under beds for anyone who may be hiding.  
  
"Where are you?" he crooned, looking under Remus' bed.  
  
From behind, there was a loud snarl, and Sirius jumped up - but there was no one there.  
  
All of a sudden, there was a burst of flame upon Peter's bed, and from behind the blaze, a familiar figure materialized.  
  
A red, pincered arm, a thin spindly hand appeared, the disfigured goat's head, the human torso, the goat legs, the array of snake tails - and the wings, those colossal wings like torn umbrellas.  
  
Lord Azazel sat before Sirius.  
  
"You!" Sirius breathed, stumbling a bit.  
  
Azazel snarled at him, and crossed his goat legs.  
  
Sirius' eyes widened, and he found that he had lost the ability to talk. If only he could destroy Azazel. But before he could think any more, the beast before him began to mutter non stop under his breath in a strange, unearthly tongue.  
  
Sirius tried to yell out, but Azazel moved his hand forwards and pointed that wretched spindly finger at him once again. Sirius braced himself for what was coming next.  
  
And suddenly, Sirius felt his breath stop. It was a peculiar feeling - as if you'd been put into a bottle and had the top closed on you from above. He was hardly aware of his surroundings and of Azazel's distant voice.  
  
Azazel clapped his hand against his claw and Sirius' arms were held out in front of him like some sort of offering. They turned over so that the wrists were facing upwards, and Sirius watched in horror as his dull grey scars opened once but instead of bleeding, worms and maggots crawled out of them. They wriggled and squirmed and fell onto the floor of the dormitory.  
  
Next minute, however, all the creatures were gone.  
  
Sirius stood, unable to move or breathe, and totally under this hell demon's power.  
  
Azazel leant forwards slightly from James' bed, and Sirius cried out silently, as he saw his hands disappearing, then his forearms and his entire arms. His legs were disappearing too, and soon enough his torso was gone too.  
  
But were they really gone? Sirius could still feel them, and could tell they were there - he just could not see them with his eyes.  
  
Then it hit Sirius - this was his power! He had the power to blend into any backdrop and that the reason that Azazel was even giving him these powers was because Sirius and Andromeda had saved him from Hell - just because he lived there did not mean he liked it.  
  
But before Sirius could ponder on the subject any further, Azazel's grotesque goat-like face was right up against his, and he said in a harsh whisper, "Satan!" and vanished in a burst of flame.  
  
Sirius fell to the ground, and looked at his hand - they were back. To test if this really was the power, he leant against the wall and willed himself to BECOME the wall, he disappeared from sight, and grinned wickedly.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~#  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D 


	10. Mudblood Torture

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Ten: Mudblood Torture~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"SIRIUS BLACK!" Professor Aquinas called, as he read the names from the register.  
  
Remus and James looked at one another, clueless as to the whereabouts of there friend.  
  
"Sirius Black?" he repeated, now looking up with the astounded expression he constantly wore, "Does anyone know where Sirius Black is?"  
  
James shook his head - it was unusual for him to ever miss a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.  
  
"Right then," Professor Aquinas continued, "Today we are going to be studying harpies!"  
  
He turned to face the board and wrote down the title 'Harpies'.  
  
"Where the hell is Padfoot?" Remus asked James, under his breath.  
  
James shook his head, puzzled.  
  
"Alright guys?" came a smooth, smug voice from right behind James and Remus.  
  
The two boys jumped, and Remus' gasp made Professor Aquinas turn around.  
  
"Ah, so there you are, Mr Black!" he said. A few heads turned round to look at him.  
  
"Sorry I didn't answer the register, professor," he said, sitting down in between James and Remus.  
  
"That's quite alright," Professor Aquinas said, "In fact - five points to Gryffindor for surprising me!"  
  
Sirius and James laughed, surprised. Lily looked back at them from the front row and gave a little wave.  
  
"How..." Remus began.  
  
"I'll tell you later," Sirius said, a mischievous grin across his handsome face.  
  
James turned to face him, unsure as to whether he would just blow him off.  
  
"Look, mate," Sirius whispered, looking at James, "I'm sorry about - well... you know."  
  
A smile began to form upon James' handsome face, but the silence of the class was broken by a sly, silky and annoying voice.  
  
"Sir! Sir!" Snape cried, with his pallid hand in the air, "Black and Potter are talking!"  
  
Professor Aquinas turned around, and passed his fingers through his short grey hair.  
  
"Five points from Gryffindor, Black," he said, unsmiling, "Now please make a start on these notes!"  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"I need to talk to you later," Andromeda said, in the Charms corridor.  
  
Sirius sighed, "Okay, meet me in the Library at lunch."  
  
"No, it's better we go somewhere outside," she replied, "besides - I don't really like that Valerie woman."  
  
Sirius nodded and made his way to Charms.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Sirius walked across the grounds, searching for his cousin, and surely enough, there was a tall figure of a brunette stood by the pine tree near Hagrid's Hut.  
  
"ANDIE!" he yelled, running over to his large cousin.  
  
She turned around, more quickly than Sirius would have thought possible for a human - as if she was on a spinning top. There was a wicked, unAndromeda- ish grin on her face, and Sirius was horrified to see that she looked frighteningly similar to Bellatrix.  
  
"Hi Sirius," she said still smiling, as if she knew something he didn't, "Come for a walk with me."  
  
Sirius followed her, as she made her way into the Forbidden Forest. She was walking with speed incredible, almost hovering, deep into the woods.  
  
"Andie - what?" Sirius asked, straggling along behind her, breathless and bemused.  
  
Andromeda spun round abruptly, in that same eerie way as she had before. Sirius jumped back, in shock.  
  
"Here's fine," she said is a raspy voice.  
  
"So... like what did you wanna show me?" Sirius asked.  
  
"He came to me," she said, smiling madly, "He came to me Sirius and he gave me a power."  
  
Sirius wondered what on earth she was going on about, and then realised she was talking about Lord Azazel.  
  
"Ohh he came to me too," Sirius told her.  
  
Andromeda smiled and muttered, "Cool."  
  
"I can blend into the surroundings," Sirius explained, "watch."  
  
He leant against the tree, and Andromeda's eyes widened in delight as Sirius began to disappear from sight. After a few seconds, he was completely hidden.  
  
Andromeda applauded, "That was marvellous! Just virtuoso!"  
  
"Thanks," Sirius said, slipping out of his concealment, "What's your power?"  
  
Andromeda grinned wickedly once again, "Though not as defensive as your power, it's more OFFENSIVE."  
  
She looked down at the undergrowth below and Sirius, jumped back in surprise as they caught fire before his eyes.  
  
"I can set things alight with my eyes," she said happily.  
  
Sirius gasped - that really WAS quite impressive.  
  
"Well I suppose you'd have to be careful with them yeah? I mean when I first got mine, I woke up invisible, or somehow made myself disappear without knowing."  
  
"I know, my sheets caught fire before," she sighed, "Come on let's go inside and gloat to Bell and Narcissa."  
  
Sirius laughed, things were finally looking up. He was back on talking terms with James, plus he and Andromeda had powers when Bellatrix had none.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"That's so sick!" Lily cried angrily, "I mean... who could be so callous?"  
  
Sirius sighed - the school had received news that a First Year Hufflepuff girl, Mary-Anne Capulet had been tortured horribly and then left Stunned in the Owlery. Little Mary-Anne had been in such a severe condition that she was taken straight to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.  
  
Now James, Sirius, Lily, Remus, Peter, Andromeda and Dominique were discussing this bit of news under the shade of the pine tree outside Hagrid's Hut.  
  
"Well, no doubt it was a Slytherin," James said pensively, "I mean those freaks thrive on this kind of stuff, don't they?"  
  
Lily sighed deeply, "You can't go blaming people when you have no evidence, Potter."  
  
"Hmm, he has a point though," Andromeda piped, "I mean who better TO blame than the evillest brutes in the school?"  
  
"Evillest is NOT a word," Remus said in a pompous tone.  
  
"Yes it is!" Dominique cried, "Just because you're a Prefect doesn't mean you can make up rules of grammar and spelling, you know."  
  
Remus blushed slightly.  
  
"Well no prizes for guessing who our culprit is, eh Andie?" Sirius said, laying down and stretching.  
  
Andromeda gasped, "Surely you don't blame ME?"  
  
Remus laughed, "No I don't think he does, Andromeda."  
  
"A certain sister of yours," Sirius continued, "a very morbid and dark sister."  
  
"You think she'd do something like this?" James asked.  
  
"It's not her style - plus she's only sixteen!" Remus cried.  
  
"Err who are we talking about here?" Lily asked, utterly confounded.  
  
"'Course she would!" Peter cried, "She's bad to the bone that girl."  
  
"No, the pompous Prefect is right," Dominique said, glancing at Remus, "she won't know enough magic to perform as deadly a curse as that."  
  
"EXCUSE ME!" Lily screamed, stopping the entire debate, "But could someone PLEASE tell me who the hell we're going on about here?"  
  
"Oh, we're talking about Bellatrix," James replied, "She's Andie's sister and Sirius' cousin."  
  
"Which one's she?" Lily asked.  
  
"The hot one with black hair in Slytherin," Peter answered.  
  
"OI!" Sirius yelled, throwing a branch at Peter.  
  
"AAARGH!" James yelled, realising the dry grass in front of him had caught fire.  
  
Everyone moved backwards rapidly, and Remus performed a Dousing Charm to kill the fire.  
  
"How the hell did that happen?" James asked, breathlessly.  
  
"Uhh, it was the...erm...sun?" Andromeda answered unconvincingly.  
  
But Sirius gave her the smallest smirk - he knew that the sun didn't burn the grass.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D 


	11. Bellatrix's Powers

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Eleven: Bellatrix's Powers~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH AND GRYFFINDOR WIN THE MATCH!" Lestrange boomed over the loudspeaker.  
  
There was a mixed reaction, some people weren't sure whether they should cheer or not but there was definite feeling of foreboding creeping over the stands as Lestrange called out the very next comment.  
  
"Gryffindor win the match - but SLYTHERIN WIN THE CUP!" he yelled, stamping his feet and waving his arms in excitement. He even began doing a little jig with this hippy Slytherin called Laurel Playstowe.  
  
The Slytherin team were engulfed with an enormous wave of green, as they were hoisted into the air and carried over to Dumbledore and the Quidditch Cup.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"I'm a failure, an utter failure," James said gloomily, "I suck at Quidditch, I should just quit now while I'm ahead."  
  
The Gryffindor Common Room was looking quite dull in light of the current events. A hush had descended over the Tower and no one seemed to be able to smile.  
  
"It wasn't your fault, mate," Sirius said soothingly, "You played brilliantly, tell him Lily."  
  
"Yeah, Jay," she said, looking slightly disgruntled that she was having to comfort James against her will, "You were superb."  
  
James perked up slightly at this, "You serious?" he asked, sitting up in his chair.  
  
"I think I'll go get some Butterbeer," Sirius said, and with a slight snigger, made his way over to Remus and Peter.  
  
He left the two talking - surely they couldn't keep talking about the match forever.  
  
"Hey, I'm watching you!" Remus called to a group of Second Year boys who were concealing suspicious looking lumps under their robes.  
  
"I'm so bloomin' bored!" Peter said, yawning and rubbing his eyes, "Think I'll go to bed."  
  
"Yeah think I will too," Sirius said, stretching widely and walking after Peter.  
  
In the dormitory, it seemed even more still and silent compared to the Common Room - as if it was somewhere sombre, such as a funeral home.  
  
"G'night then," Peter said, jumping straight into bed without changing.  
  
"Night," Sirius replied, making his way over to his bed.  
  
Sirius sighed, as he opened his trunk to get his pyjamas. He pulled them out from under a tangle of spare school robes, and a piece of parchment fell to the floor.  
  
Sirius picked it up and noticed that it was the Marauder's Map, he glanced over it quickly, but something caught his eye - there was a large black dot standing outside where the Black Room was, and it was clearly labelled BELLATRIX BLACK.  
  
Sirius hastily stuffed the parchment into his pockets and ran out of the dormitory into the Common Room, where he failed to notice the Second Years chasing after a small ferret, and being yelled at by Remus. He also missed the fact that Lily and James were talking animatedly.  
  
He walked quickly through the corridors, keeping the Map in front of him in the wand light. Running swiftly, he saw that Pringle was in his office, and Peeves was in the Black Room's corridor.  
  
As the last corner came of the Black Room, Sirius flattened himself against the wall nearby and shuffled slowly sideways. A small figure of a pearly white man floated by.  
  
"Bad Bad Bellatrix Black, Woke up once in a haystack," Peeves sang, floating away down the stairs.  
  
"What a creep," Sirius breathed, shuffling slowly towards the Black Room - but there was no one there.  
  
Sirius jumped forwards, taking away his disguise, and began looking around, and back at the Map for Bellatrix - but she was on neither.  
  
"Looking for me cousin Sirius?" a soft, silky voice came from behind, making Sirius jump.  
  
"Bellatrix!" Sirius breathed, clutching his chest, "W-What are you doing here?"  
  
Bellatrix smiled widely and walked over slowly to Sirius.  
  
"I could ask you the same, Si," she crooned, "Walking around at night, someone could get suspicious."  
  
She walked right up to Sirius and ran a slender, claw-like finger down his chest.  
  
"Well built, I see," she breathed, "There's none quite like the Pure Bloods eh?"  
  
"Whatever," Sirius said, leaning against the wall, "Just tell me what you're doing."  
  
Bellatrix smiled once again and pulled out her wand, pointing it at Sirius.  
  
Sirius walked into the middle of the corridor and pulled out his own wand - he was sure the inevitable was coming.  
  
"Tripudeo!" she cried, causing a purple light to shoot out of her wand and hit Sirius on his chest. He staggered, and all of a sudden he began to tap dance, Bellatrix began laughing horribly.  
  
"Fultura Maximus!" Sirius cried, trying to keep his wand straight while doing a quick step, the yellow sparks hit Bellatrix's legs, and she found that she could not move from the spot.  
  
"Alitum Helops!" Bellatrix yelled, causing Sirius to become covered in pale silvery scales.  
  
"ACCIPIO DOLOR!" Sirius shouted, and an orange spell hit Bellatrix. She screamed loudly and fell to the ground.  
  
Sirius pointed his wand at himself and muttered, "Finite Incantatem!" and he stopped dancing and his scales disappeared.  
  
He ran over to Bellatrix and stood over her - it would be more than likely for her to pull as fast one so he had to be cautious.  
  
"You okay?" Sirius asked down at her.  
  
There was no answer as Bellatrix lay crumpled in a heap.  
  
From behind came scratching sound, like someone with blunt nails trying to scratch a black board, and the sound intensified. Sirius whipped round and yelled loudly as he caught sight of hundreds of tarantulas the size of dinner plates scurrying hastily towards him.  
  
Sirius turned round, and Bellatrix was standing straight, with tinier spiders all pouring of her mouth like some sort of sickly fountain. He didn't need telling twice, and ran quickly away, stepping over tarantulas.  
  
He sprinted all the way to the tapestry before Gryffindor Tower, but the spiders seemed to be everywhere he went.  
  
"Thank God I'm not arachnophobic!" he muttered, pulling back the tapestry, "AAAAAAARGH!"  
  
From behind the tapestry, a grinning Bellatrix stepped out. Sirius fell over onto his back and howled in pain, squashing one of the spiders.  
  
"Easily scared aren't you?" she said tauntingly, she clicked her fingers, and all of a sudden there were no spiders.  
  
She offered a hand to Sirius, and she hoisted him up off the floor.  
  
"What the..." Sirius began.  
  
"Looks like Lord Azazel favours me too, Sirius," she said softly.  
  
Sirius sighed, standing rooted on the spot.  
  
"That bit of chameleon-like concealment was pretty impressive cous," she whispered, "but I personally think MY power is much better."  
  
Sirius wondered how she could have done such a thing as bring forth Azazel, and get given powers, but before he could ponder this any longer Bellatrix whispered a short, "Sweet dreams," and made her way back her dorm.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#  
  
Review plz!  
  
Alexei Noire. 


	12. The Infiltrator

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
Hehe okay, from high demand from Rayeanna and BlackLadyofDoom, here is the unseen chapter. ENJOY!  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Twelve: The Infiltrator~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"What do you mean she MADE the spiders appear?" Andromeda asked, massaging her temples in thought.  
  
"As I said," Sirius explained, "Bellatrix was standing stock still in the corridor with the spiders pouring out of mouth like some sort of black cascade."  
  
The two Blacks were walking outside in the cool summer breeze, with the sun beating down upon them like a hammer.  
  
"I really hate the sun, you know," Sirius told her, shielding his eyes from the glare, "I wish I could shoot it out of the sky sometimes."  
  
"Don't be stupid," Andromeda said to him, also covering her face, "look it's lunchtime in half an hour, we can confront Bella there."  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"Hey isn't that your sister and your cousin?" Lestrange asked, pointing behind Bellatrix.  
  
Bellatrix turned around and turned back immediately.  
  
"Bell, we need to talk to you!" Andromeda cried over her back.  
  
Bellatrix spun round abruptly and stood up tetchily, "What?" she asked, crossing her arms and frowning her beautiful face into a scowl.  
  
"Uhh, we need to talk to you about your power," Andromeda said, softly, noticing Lestrange look over avidly. Malfoy and Narcissa were sat opposite each other quite near them.  
  
"Is that all?" Bellatrix breathed, "Then screw you!"  
  
She turned and made to sit down, but the nearest tureen of rice pudding on the table caught fire.  
  
"That could be you next," Andromeda said threateningly.  
  
Bellatrix gave the flaming tureen a terrified look and turned back to face Andromeda and Sirius while Malfoy extinguished the fire behind her.  
  
"Well, what do you want to know then?" she asked lazily.  
  
"We want to know how you got your powers," Sirius told her.  
  
Bellatrix smiled mockingly.  
  
"You would, wouldn't you?" she asked pleasantly, "Well it's like this - I went back to Maxilla and pleaded with him to give me another chance, and he told me how to summon Lord Azazel. So he came to me and he set me a task - to persuade someone to torture a Mudblood. And I did - old Rodolphus over there kicked the crap outta Mary-Anne Capulet a few days back. So I came back and lo and behold - I have my powers!"  
  
"B-But Bell that's inhumane!" Andromeda spat, disgustedly.  
  
"Hmm you would say that - BLOOD TRAITOR!" she smirked and sat back down opposite Lestrange, leaving their stunned faces.  
  
"Let's get outta here, we need to go to the Library," Andromeda said in an urgent whisper.  
  
"Why?" Sirius asked.  
  
"You'll see," she replied.  
  
Sirius and Andromeda began to walk away from the Slytherin Table, but a voice yelled at them from behind.  
  
"Oi Black!" Lestrange called, "Nice arse you have there!"  
  
Andromeda frowned confusedly, "Was he talking about you or me?"  
  
Sirius scoffed, "Knowing him - me."  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
They had spent an entire hour in the Library, looking back through the demonic possession books. Madam Valerie was eyeing Andromeda very closely indeed, and would look up at her at the slightest cough or sneeze.  
  
"Here it is!" Sirius declared, holding out a large and heavy book, "It's 'Gateways to Hell'!"  
  
Andromeda sighed, and took the book from him. She began flicking through it and after a few minutes looked up triumphantly.  
  
"This is it!" she cried, "To stop all happenings linked with the invocation of any demon - you must destroy or dispose of the board!"  
  
"Well how do we do that?" Sirius asked, taking the book from her and looking down at the passage she had showed him, "Do we burn it?"  
  
"No, because that doesn't always work," she said, still musing, "There is the alternative of driving miles and miles away and just dumping the board there. But I'm not allowed to Disapparate in the School Grounds, Dominique told me about this book called 'Hogwarts: A History' which says so."  
  
"It says here," Sirius read, "that the sure fire way of stopping all the happenings is to dump the Ouija Board on holy ground such as a churchyard or in the vicinity of a religious building."  
  
"Well we don't have any holy ground here," Andromeda explained.  
  
Sirius sighed, then with a handsome smile said, "Then we'll just have to make our own."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~#  
  
*yawn* No, Lestrange does NOT fancy Sirius - he was admiring Andie's backside. It's a nice Quidditch toned ass (in the immortal words of some other fanfictioner).  
  
Alexei Noire xXx 


	13. The Gateway Closed

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters used. THIS STORY IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE HARRY POTTER SERIES BY JK ROWLING, IT IS A PURE FORM OF FANFICTION!!!!  
  
Thanks to BlackLadyofDoom (aka Nay-Chan!) for her reviews - no one else seems to Review so thanks!!  
  
Well to any other readers (hah! That's SO likely (!) this is the penultimate chapter - we're nearing the end!  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Thirteen: The Gateway Closed~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Are we going to use salt again?" Andromeda asked, "That was pretty useful last time."  
  
Sirius heaved a sigh.  
  
"Yeah, but the main thing we need will be the Holy Water," Sirius explained, "But make sure it doesn't touch your skin - it repels magic and we have magic in our blood so it'd burn the skin right off us."  
  
"Check," Andromeda muttered, pulling the dreaded Ouija out of Sirius' satchel and eyeing it warily, "I hate this thing - I just want to burn it to cinders."  
  
"No - it might not work!" Sirius cried, snatching the board off her, "Andie, you know after we destroy this that-that we'll lose our powers?"  
  
Andromeda exhaled noisily and nodded.  
  
"But it's not definite?" she asked.  
  
"No, but it's very likely."  
  
Andromeda got up off her chair and folded her arms.  
  
"Well then, I guess this is a good thing," she muttered, "I won't be causing more fires than a baby dragon around the school anymore."  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Sirius drew the circle of salt under the light of the moon - Remus was under the Shrieking Shack at this very minute with Prongs and Wormtail.  
  
Andromeda took out a large bottle full of Holy Water, handling it with dragon hide gloves, and handed it to Sirius.  
  
He unscrewed the lid and poured the clear liquid sporadically inside the circle. Then he proceeded in pulling out a parchment from his pockets and began to read from it.  
  
"Our Father who art in Heaven,  
  
Hallowed be thy name.  
  
Thy Kingdom come,  
  
Thy Will be done -  
  
On Earth as it is in Heaven,  
  
Give us this day our Daily Bread.  
  
And forgive us our trespasses  
  
As we forgive those who trespass against us.  
  
Lead us not into Temptation  
  
And Deliver us from Evil  
  
For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory.  
  
For now and Forever, Ame-."  
  
Sirius jumped back aghast, as a ring of fire appeared around him and Andromeda.  
  
"Was that you?" he asked worriedly.  
  
"No!" she cried, moving in closer as the ring closed in on them.  
  
"It's Azazel!" Sirius yelled, "Look!"  
  
On the nearest tree appeared large flaming letters spelling out the word 'SPITE'.  
  
Suddenly, a small, dark figure materialized before the Blacks. It was a slim person who had their face hidden completely by a black hood that was part of the black cloak which shrouded them.  
  
The person pointed to the circle of salt and aimed a flame at the centre of it, but it just bounced off.  
  
"The prayer's complete!" Sirius declared, "Dump the Ouija into it, Andie!"  
  
Andromeda made for the Ouija board on the ground, but the person in the shroud clicked their fingers and suddenly it had scorpions crawling all over it.  
  
Andromeda yelled in surprise, as she watched them scurry all over the board, guarding it ferociously.  
  
Sirius looked at the person who had clicked their fingers and recognised those claw-like nails.  
  
"Bellatrix!" Sirius breathed, and lunged forwards grabbing hold of the Ouija, "It's okay - it's just an illusion. Bellatrix has the power of illusion!"  
  
The scorpions were still walking all over the board but they Sirius could not feel them as they apparently crawled over his hands.  
  
"In the name of Jehovah - I banish thee!" he yelled, throwing the board into the salt circle.  
  
The board began to rattle, Bellatrix was screaming, and had collapsed onto the floor. The Ouija then appeared to melt, first in the middle, then spreading to the edges - a hole appeared in the middle and Sirius felt his powers departing, leaving him feeling naked without them.  
  
Next minute, a horrible, inhuman scream came from the distance, growing louder and ebbing its way into the night. Sirius whirled round to see Azazel's body being dragged magnetically with sheer speed towards the hellhole. Andromeda jumped aside just in time, as the demon flew by her and was sucked back into his dimension. The screams were incredible - Sirius covered his ears because it was so frightening, and then as suddenly as the hole appeared, it disappeared.  
  
"Thank God," Andromeda breathed.  
  
"Yeah," Sirius muttered, still transfixed at the hole, which was now nothing more than a salt circle.  
  
They hoisted Bellatrix off the ground and helped her into the castle. Sirius got tired halfway and pulled out his wand, aiming it as Bellatrix.  
  
"Mobilicorpus," he muttered, making his cousin rise off the floor and walk forwards as if on puppet strings.  
  
"My powers are definitely gone," Andromeda whispered to Sirius, once they had deposited Bellatrix in the Hospital Wing, "I just can't do it."  
  
Sirius sighed, he did miss his power, but it was all for the best, right?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~#  
  
Okay ppl I'm going to be evil today - there's only one last  
chapter left but I won't be posting it 'til after Sunday because  
I'm in Scotland until then! MWAHAHA!  
  
Not enough reviews until that time and you won't know what  
happened at the end ever!!!! AHAHAHA!  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D 


	14. Tainted Love

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, Hogwarts or any of the characters used. This story is in no way affiliated with the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling so don't compare it with her work.  
  
Thanks BlackLadyofDoom for reviewing. I know I said I'd post the last chappie after Scotland but I'm going today so HAH!  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Fourteen: Tainted Love~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"With four hundred and eighty six points, Hufflepuff house come fourth," Dumbledore declared to the school.  
  
There was sparse applause around the hall and a few pats on the back amongst the Hufflepuffs. Sirius gave Andromeda and Dominique a jaunty smile over to their table.  
  
"In third place we have Gryffindor with four hundred and ninety points," he continued.  
  
Sirius clapped with the rest dolefully - Narcissa shot him a poisonous glare that turned his blood to ice, and Lestrange gave him a wink - surely he WAS gay.  
  
"In second place we have Slytherin with five hundred and eight points," Dumbledore droned on.  
  
There was an explosion of applause from the Slytherin table, and Sirius watched as Bellatrix kissed Lestrange on the lips, and for some reason he felt a pang of jealousy when he did.  
  
"And finally in first place we have the mighty Ravenclaw with a total of five hundred and fifteen points, making them the undisputed champions of the House Cup!"  
  
The Ravenclaw table erupted with cheers and rants, some of the younger students began to dance foolishly in their seats and others banged their goblets in triumph.  
  
Sirius clapped feebly and without emotion - there was no way Gryffindor could have won anyway, Slytherin house may be rife with the most wicked people of tomorrow, but damn they were clever...  
  
"Cheer up Padfoot," James said with a smirk, "It's not like it was your fault we lost."  
  
Sirius exhaled noisily and stared down at his plate. Something was eating him from inside - perhaps the depression was coming back, though he sincerely hoped not. But whatever was wrong with him, he knew that there was an unsettlingly vacant feeling inside him which caused his chest to seem very heavy particularly in the region of his heart.  
  
The Gryffindors laughed and joked boisterously in end-of-term's spirits but Sirius could not even eat, just pushing his food round his plate like Narcissa would. He kept glancing over to the Slytherin table - the root of his emptiness and confusion.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"You all ready and packed?" Remus asked James and Sirius.  
  
"Yep..." James said from his bed, "Oh no my Cloak!"  
  
Sirius was stuffing the last of his unpacked robes into his trunk, the time had come for him to return to Grimmauld Place and for a whole two months he would have to suffer under the rule of his mother.  
  
"God, I hate my mother so much," Sirius breathed.  
  
No one else in the dormitory seemed to have noticed his interjection and carried on packing.  
  
Sirius turned round and saw Peter enter then leave immediately. Remus gave the two and wave and walked out of the dormitory.  
  
It was just Sirius and James now left in the dormitory - and this was the perfect chance for Sirius to tie up the loose end that had been following him ever since THAT night.  
  
"Jay," Sirius began, "Can we talk?"  
  
James turned to face him and sighed. He sat down on his trunk and folded his arms, with his eyes on Sirius.  
  
"It's about...it's about, you know...," Sirius continued, "Th-that night that we...erm..."  
  
"Kissed?" James guessed gravely.  
  
Sirius nodded and collapsed onto his own trunk.  
  
"What about it?" James asked, as if they were bringing the subject of a dead relative back up.  
  
Sirius sat up, "Look, the Hogwarts Express leaves soon, so tell me now - did it mean anything?"  
  
James heaved a very long sigh and stood up.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose it did," he replied, "I mean I guess I do have feelings for you deep down, but I doubt it's anything more than hormones. That night, Sirius, I wanted you - I REALLY wanted you, you know?"  
  
Sirius scoffed angrily.  
  
"Don't do this to me," he said without looking up at James.  
  
"No you don't understand," James said, grabbing Sirius by shoulders and shaking him slightly, "It was just a once off - I just wanted to straighten something out about myself, and that night really did answer my question, and I know that I really do like Evans."  
  
Sirius smiled and pulled his friend down into a hug.  
  
"Good to hear it, Jay," Sirius muttered over his shoulder, "Because a thing like that could have severely tarnished our friendship, and I could never live with that."  
  
They pulled apart and James pointed his head to the door.  
  
"Come on, don't want to miss the train back home do you?" he asked jovially.  
  
"I think I do, actually," Sirius laughed, "I mean Grimmauld Place is like torture to me, but I have a plan up my sleeve this holiday, Jay."  
  
They began walking down the stairs into the deserted Common Room.  
  
"Really? What's that then?" he asked.  
  
"I'm going to move out!" Sirius declared, "I've found a place that I need to look over a few more times, but it's perfect. Oh James, I'm going to be free! It'll be just like the time that Miss Honey escaped the treacherous rule of the Trunchbull!"  
  
"Who?" James asked, befuddled.  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes, "You haven't been doing all your Muggle Studies research have you?"  
  
When they reached the portrait hole, the exasperated face of Lily Evans met them.  
  
"Where have you two been?" she asked angrily, "The train's going to leave in no less than twenty minutes, and I find you here talking nonchalantly! Now come on!"  
  
Sirius and James exchanged meaningful glances and followed Lily down to the grounds from whence they would be seated in the horseless carriages to Hogsmeade Station.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
The train ride had begun with a lot of opening and trying sweets between James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Andromeda and Dominique. Martyn Mitochondria had come in to join them after a few minutes because all the people in his year were playing the most juvenile games, and Martyn decided he was above their petty childishness.  
  
Sirius and Andromeda had kept their promises to their friends and explained all about the Black Challenge. Most of them listened avidly, but Peter scoffed the whole way through the tale - and only shut up when Andromeda brandished the letters she had received both at the start of term and on Boxing Day. This answered a lot of questions for the Marauders - the reason that Sirius borrowed James' Invisibility Cloak, why he had wrestled Moony, Narcissa's Beau, the Halloween Ouija, Sirius' broken leg, how Sirius had materialized in Professor Aquinas' class, why Mary-Anne Capulet was tortured and why there seemed to be a lot of unexpected fires wherever Andromeda went.  
  
For the next few minutes, the group played a Muggle game that Martyn explained to them called 'Go Fish'.  
  
"Go fish!" Remus yelled.  
  
"Lupin, if you're going to yell that every time you put a card down, then maybe you shouldn't play at all," Dominique said.  
  
Remus blushed and hid his face behind his cards.  
  
"I think I'll go get another drink," Sirius declared to the group, getting up and stretching widely.  
  
He made his way through the numerous students and strode off up to the front of the Hogwart's Express, but only a few paces there; he met the onerous presence of Rodolphus Lestrange and his perfect teeth, the arrogant face of Lucius Malfoy and slimy locks of greasy black hair belonging to Severus Snape.  
  
In front of the three boys stood the most formidable and bitchy of them all - Bellatrix.  
  
"Oh look what the cat chewed on, spat at, defecated on and dragged in," Bellatrix spat harshly.  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes but still stood resolute.  
  
"Move aside, bitch," he said angrily, "Oh and you three Stooges can clear off and all!"  
  
The boys all laughed loudly and pretended to be terrified. Bellatrix stood still, smiling menacingly with her alabaster white teeth.  
  
"D'you want us to tear him limb by limb, Bell?" Malfoy asked.  
  
"Leave his face," Lestrange snarled, "We don't want to ruin a pretty one like that."  
  
Sirius bit down on his lip angrily.  
  
"I say we curse him all at once," Snape said with a short laugh.  
  
Bellatrix walked nearer to Sirius and spun round sharply to face her peers.  
  
"No," she said through her black lipsticked mouth, "Leave him to me, boys. After I'm done with him, he won't be able to walk."  
  
Lestrange looked sulky, "But I really want to touch him!"  
  
Everyone stared at him unusually, but the boys shrugged and walked away into the compartments ahead. Bellatrix shut the compartment doors after them and grinned with her Gothic smile.  
  
"Is this going to be a repeat of our previous duel?" Sirius asked exasperatedly.  
  
Bellatrix caught sight of him pulling out his wand and walked closer still.  
  
"Put that away," she whispered sweetly.  
  
"Oh come on!" Sirius cried, "I can stand you, you know!"  
  
Bellatrix edged closer until she was stood right in front of her handsome cousin. She had not gotten her wand out, and Sirius was wondering whether she had it up her sleeve or down her robes. But before he could think anymore on this issue, Bellatrix slipped her claw-like hands round Sirius' neck and pulled him close into a kiss.  
  
Sirius stood stunned, his lips not reciprocating the kiss. But, then he felt his chest swelling up with emotion - the emptiness he had felt was slowly disappearing, and now he longed for Bellatrix, he wanted her badly, his lips locked themselves tightly around hers and he dropped his wand as he pulled his arms around his cousin's waist and deepened the kiss.  
  
They pulled apart, and stared at one another for a few moments breathlessly. Bellatrix smiled, with a sweet smile unlike the menacing ones she habitually wore. After a crucial moment, Sirius pulled his cousin back into another, more intense kiss. He lapped at her tongue hungrily, and passed his fingers through her gorgeous black hair, whilst she caressed his charcoal hair with her slender fingers with painted-black nails, messing it up.  
  
Sirius and Bellatrix felt their libidos taking off and wished to be in one another's arms forever. Sparks went off, Fireworks exploded and cannons blasted as these two star crossed lovers embraced from the same fatal loins as the other.  
  
Finally, after what seemed like the eternal kiss, the two adolescents broke apart their beautiful connection and stared at one another lovingly. Sirius had wrapped his arms round Bellatrix, and she rested her head on his chest affectionately.  
  
"W-What just happened there?" Sirius whispered roughly.  
  
Bellatrix looked up at her cousin and smiled.  
  
"I just, needed to do that," she said, "At least once in my life, because you know, Sirius - I love you."  
  
Sirius froze and stood rooted on the spot, as if he had been glued there and left to grow like an oak tree. He could feel unseen emotion rising to the top, from the depths of his heart, and sudden realisation that of which even surprised Sirius.  
  
He looked down into Bellatrix's eyes and breathed in a resolute and veracious voice, "I love you too, Bellatrix."  
  
She smiled widely, and tears appeared in the corners of her pretty eyes and she hugged Sirius tightly. Sirius felt utter peace within himself, and felt all depression alleviating from his body which now felt numb with emotion - she was the only one who could truly understand him, she had been through what he had and she was the one for him, his Soul mate.  
  
Suddenly, there was a scratching sound from behind, and the two released each other from their grip immediately. Bellatrix sighed and looked back up at Sirius, who almost passed out with what he saw in her eyes - as if it was a reflection, a mere glint in her eyes, he saw the onerous figure of a cloaked skeleton with a large scythe in one hand and an hourglass in the other - Death.  
  
"You killed him yet?" Snape asked uninterestedly.  
  
Sirius choked slightly and picked up his wand abruptly, running out of the compartment back to his friends.  
  
"Hey Padfoot!" James said smiling, sitting next to Lily Evans and her friend Jenny DeLonge, "What kept you?"  
  
Sirius did not reply, but sat down wordlessly beside Martyn, who was now teaching Remus and Dominique the rudimentary rules of Snap.  
  
"You okay?" Andromeda asked, looking over to him from beside Dominique, "You look a bit flushed."  
  
"I-I'm okay," Sirius croaked, looking down at the wooden surface of the table in front.  
  
The rest of the journey passed with a lot cheering, joking and laughter, with Sirius finding himself feigning happiness with the rest, but all the time thinking about that glint in Bellatrix's eyes.  
  
He suddenly remembered that there was a glint in Martyn's eyes too after he'd performed a curse on Bellatrix - and he now knew what the glint was. It was a forewarning which had Bellatrix with the glint in her eyes - but why was it in Martyn's eyes? Was it because he had been subject to her wrath? Or because he was innocent, and the answers of the Universe were said to lie in the eyes of the Innocent. Sirius just did not know.  
  
When the train had arrived at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, James took Sirius aside and told him about something unusual he had witnessed.  
  
"I'd dropped one of Martyn's cards and I saw a small glint in Wormtail's eyes - it looked a lot like...well like DEATH."  
  
Sirius froze solid and gawped at his friend.  
  
"But it was probably nothing," James added brusquely, "Oh there's my folks - HEY DAD!"  
  
Sirius looked over and saw James' parents standing ready with a trolley, smiling jovially. Over in the corner was HIS mother, who looked like a drowned hag - she was talking to a very tall man with a thin brown moustache, and neat brown hair who could not have been anyone else but Rodolphus Lestrange's father.  
  
Thus, Sirius walked reluctantly over to his banshee of a mother, with the burning prospect of his own place away from her abuse. But the glint in Bellatrix's eyes was also gnawing at the back of his mind too - and he would understand it someday, particularly that day in the Department of Mysteries years later when he would meet his end by the doing of Bellatrix.  
  
Hence, in the same way, James would understand the glint in Peter's eye on that fateful night upon which Lord Voldemort would enter the Potters' house in Godric's Hollow - all because of Peter.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE END~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Thanks to all those who reviewed, this was a fun story to write and now I intend to write different fics too. Also, there is a possibility of a Black Magick 2, which will take place in Sirius' Seventh Year, but I need to come up with a plot first.  
  
Plus, if you wish to see the following character depictions (as drawings): Lord Azazel, Belltrix Black, Rodolphus Lestrange, Tripp Cava, Martyn Mitochondria, Dominique and the Black Room, then email me at alilestrange@hotmail.com  
  
THANKS!  
  
Alexei Noire xXx :D ( 2003 


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